OTS2015: Josephine Butler...... with Helen Mathers

Josephine Butler (1828-1906) was a British feminist, Christian and campaigner who challenged Victorian society to its core.   She rescued prostitutes in Liverpool and learned about the Contagious Diseases Acts, which allowed the police to lock women up if they had a sexually-transmitted disease.  She became one of the first women in this country to lead a campaign to change the law.  This talk based on Helen’s book, Patron Saint of Prostitutes. Josephine Butler and a Victorian Scandal, draws on Josephine’s inspired writings and follows her often hazardous campaigning journey until, in 1883, MPs voted to suspend the Acts.