BRITAIN Contagious Diseases Act Flashcards
When was the Crimean War?
1853-56
When did the health of the British army become a national concern?
Crimean War
What established the link between the health of soldiers and venereal disease?
1857 Royal Commission on the Health of the Army
When were the frequent medical checks on soldiers abandoned because of humiliation?
1859
How many army hospital admissions were for venereal infections in 1860?
37%
What did the government establish in response to the 1857 Royal Commission?
1862 committee
Who was the central advocate of the 1862 committee?
Florence Nightingale
What did the 1862 committee propose?
Penalties for concealing, but not contracting, venereal diseases; lock hospitals
Who suggested that Britain’s prostitutes should be moderated like the French?
Sir John Liddell, a member of the 1862 committee
Who raised objections to the 1862 committee’s suggestions?
William Gladstone
Who was hereditary syphilis a big killer for?
Children under 12 months
What did syphilis cause if left long enough?
Blindness; deafness; insanity
What was prostitution regarded quietly by many as?
Social necessity
What specified that a man could divorce a woman on grounds of adultery?
Matrimonial Causes Act 1857
What did a woman have to prove, along with adultery, in order to divorce a man?
Cruelty; desertion
John William Acton (1813-75)
London surgeon of high reputation, specialising in the urinary and genital organs; did not consider prostitution to be a social evil but was concerned that the diseases it spread posed a considerable social problem
When did Acton publish his book?
1857
What did Acton make clear in his book?
Prostitution was a social necessity; danger of venereal diseases; need for state intervention
When did Acton declare that charity and religion had failed to prevent prostitution and a scientific government regulation was called for?
1860
When were there many organisations set up for the reform and salvation of prostitutes?
1850s
When was the first Contagious Diseases Act passed?
1864
Contagious Diseases Act 1864
Gave police within ports and garrison towns the power to arrest prostitutes for medical examination- if a woman was found to be diseased, she could be detained in a lock hospital until cured
What would happen if a woman failed to submit to examination, according to the CDA 1864?
Imprisonment
When was the second Contagious Diseases Act passed?
1866
Contagious Diseases Act 1866
Compulsory examinations introduced for prostitutes once every three months; examinations were to be performed on all suspected prostitutes within ten miles of a suspected port or garrison town
When was the third Contagious Diseases Act passed?
1869
Contagious Diseases Act 1869
This regulation extended to all garrison towns and allowed prostitutes to be held for five days before examination without trial; made it legal for prostitutes to be detained in a lock hospital for up to a year and subjected to fortnightly inspections
How many protected districts did the CDA 1869 establish across the country?
18
Who defended the CDAs?
Medical authorities like Acton and Elizabeth Garrett Anderson
How did the CDAs provide a stark lesson to women of all social ranks?
A parliament of men was more than capable of passing laws degrading to women and beneficial only to men
What found considerable evidence that the CDAs had improved conditions for prostitutes in protected areas?
1871 Royal Commission
Why did the CDAs increase the working life of women beyond the customary 3-4 years?
Frequent checks and timely treatment- legislation appeared to preserve their health and allow them to remain in their business considerably longer
What became a prized possession for prostitutes after the CDAs?
Health certificates
What did the 1871 Royal Commission find was the most popular aspect of the CDAs?
Reduced occurrence of scabies
How could prostitutes get their names removed from the registers?
If they married/entered full-time employment
How did the CDAs affect the hospital admission rates for syphilis?
In protected areas, 37/1,000 soldiers were hospitalised with the disease, compared to 194/1,000 soldiers in unprotected areas
What has to be remembered about the 1871 Royal Commission?
They only interviewed certain types of witness- bulk of evidence collected came from Anglican ministers, doctors and military officers
What did some of the new laws make harder for prostitutes?
Access to reform institutions for those who wanted help to leave their profession
Which reform institution refused to care for women from government hospitals as it was opposed to the Acts?
Rescue of Women and Children
How did the police feel about the CDAs?
Regulation of prostitution was an unnecessary distraction from preventing and detecting more serious crimes