Summary of Josephine Butler’s life and work

Josephine Butler, an unfamiliar name to many people nowadays, but nevertheless, one that should be recognised for her courageous campaigning to put a stop to violence against women and children.

Born on 13th April 1828 in Northumberland, she was the seventh of ten children. From a young age, her mother, Hannah, encouraged her creative soul as she excelled at piano and enjoyed painting. She also made sure that Josephine got a good education.

Josephine met George Butler in 1849 who was nine years older than her and had a fine academic mind. Within three years of meeting, they were married and a few years later had their first son, George.

Josephine was an unconventional Christian. She found much peace in prayer but strongly disliked the dark shadow of institutional Christianity when it failed the neglected poor. Josephine accompanied her husband to Oxford University but she was not allowed to study there as women were excluded from university education at that time. While in Oxford Josephine was exposed to condescending attitudes towards women from men. It was a revelation to her that men would fulfil their sexual pleasures with prostitutes and treat them in a disrespectful manner afterwards. This is something that did not sit well with her and she started working with social outcasts to support the victims of abuse and violence. Focussing her energies on their needs, her own mental and physical health plummeted.

In 1857, the family moved to Cheltenham where Josephine had two more sons, Stanley and Charlie, then a daughter called Eva. When Eva was only five, she tragically died in their home after falling from the top floor landing. Following this, still struggling with shock and grief two years later, the family moved to Liverpool, where George became headmaster of Liverpool College. Josephine began visiting imprisoned women in the Liverpool workhouse, mainly as an act of personal survival. With help and support from people around her, she established her own refuge, the Butler’s House of Rest. She found people homes and for those who were well enough, they earned a small income completing tasks such as sewing and laundering. Josephine ensured this was a place full of love, where no one was judged on their past or present actions.

As well as her commitments to helping prostitutes, Josephine was also committed to helping improve life for women in general. She became President of the North of England Council for the Higher Education of Women. Following her campaigining, for the first time ever, women were able to take a step away from domestic duties and pursue studies in subjects such as science and maths. As if this wasn’t enough, she was also campaigning for fairer wages for women. Due to her strong disagreement with the vile laws surrounding women being detained and the invasive and cruel medical inspections they were subjected to if they were seen as a prostitute, Josephine continued her campaigns. However, despite speaking up on such an important subject, this resulted in her being disowned by friends, as they saw it unacceptable for a respected woman to be discussing such a taboo topic.

The hurdles Josephine encountered in her tracks only encouraged her more to succeed in her mission to help women. In just one year, she addressed over 100 public meetings and travelled 4,000 miles, whilst ending up in countless dangerous and exhausting situations. In 1885, Parliament raised the age of consent to 16, the same law as today, and made it an offence to procure girls for prostitution. This was such a huge triumph for women across England and for Josephine herself. Her other remarkable achievement was the repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts. It is the changes in legislation achieved through Josephine that distinguish her from Victorian ' do gooders' who sought to 'rescue prostitutes' but only in order to sit in judgement on them and to reform them with no regard for the social circumstances that had caused ' fallen women' to engage in prostitution in the first instance.

Josephine passed away peacefully on 30th December 1906. After her death, the feminist leader, Millicent Fawcett described Josephine as ‘the most distinguished English woman of the 19th century’.