Josephine Butler - Wonderful Woman No. 121

Josephine Butler - 1828–1906
British Political Activist

Throughout this album, pictured are many women for whom it has been their lives work to improve the world around them for other women; from Emmeline Pankhurst - Wonderful Woman No. 19 to The Dagenham Four - Wonderful Women No. 49 (collectively) to Simone Veil - Wonderful Woman No. 107, to name just a few. Today's entry to the blog, Josephine Butler, is another such woman, vehement and never-faultering in her efforts.

In 1863, the youngest of Josephine's four children and her only daughter, Evangeline, died at the age of six. So devastated by this experience, Josephine sought to improve the lives of other women who endured suffering such as she.

Among the many feminist issues for which she campaigned, Josephine particularly tried to help prostitutes. Though she thought the act sinful, Josephine recognised that the women were often exploited and that male oppression and control was often the driving force behind women turning to this way of making a living. A particular campaign that Josephine drove forward in support, was to raise the legal age of consent in the United Kingdom from 13 to 16, thus making child prostitution less prevalent and somewhat easier to control. In another campaign, Josephine fought against the Contagious Diseases Acts, which allowed the police to force any woman they suspected of being a prostitute to have a genital examination for disease and detain anyone with a disease for months in hospital until they were cured, Josephine had been known to refer to the procedure as "surgical rape" and campaigned that these acts were an infringement of civil liberties. The acts were finally repealed in 1886.

For a woman to speak publicly on matters concerning sexual health and prostitution in this era was highly unusual and Josephine was often met by shocked and appalled response. However, her stance was strong and she never shied from speaking out about the issues on which she felt so strongly.

Josephine also believed that women had the right to be educated. She was part of a group who pressured Cambridge University into providing further education courses for women, eventually leading to the opening of a female-only college at Newham. She was appointed president to the North of England Council for the Higher Education of Women in 1867. She also wrote a great many papers and essays.

In nowadays, the meaning of feminism can sometimes appear to be a little blurred, so I say look to Josephine Butler, a true feminist. A woman unafraid of social boundaries and expectations, a woman who believed in equality and liberty.

A superb example of what it is to be a Wonderful Woman.

God and one woman make a majority.
Josephine Butler