Abolitionism: Unterschied zwischen den Versionen

From 1864 to 1869, the British Parliament passed so-called Contagious Diseases Acts (CDA) on the recommendation of a committee established in 1862 to inquire into venereal disease in the armed forces. By 1864, one out of three sick cases in the army had been caused by venereal disease, and admissions into hospitals for gonorrhoea and syphilis had reached 290.7 per 1,000 of total troop strength. The cause of this situation was easily detected. As military men were discouraged from marriage and homosexual behaviour was criminal, prostitution was considered a necessary evil. Und these circumstances, it was deemed most effective to shield men from venereal disease by tightening health controls over prostitutes in certain ports and army towns. The CDA did exactly that by allowing police officers to subject women to compulsory checks for veneral disease and to confine them to locked hospitals ("Lock Hospitals") until "cured". In the beginning, the time limit for lock hospitals was three months, but it was subsequently extended to one year, and while the original act could only be applied in a few selected ports and towns, there were no less than 18 "subjected districts" by 1869.  

1869, then, was a watershed year. This year saw the foundation of the Association for the Extension of the Contagious Diseases Acts, but it also witnessed the foundation of its adversaries, namely the National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts, and - since this was initially restricting women from its meetings - the Ladies National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts by December.