women, and as an insult to the moral sense of the people.buter had considerable sympathy for the plight of prostitutes who she believed had been forced into this work by low earnings and unemployment. Mrs. Butler came to see prostitution as being the result of a social structure in which there were gentlemen who had the means to purchase what they wished, and women who had nothing but there bodies to sell. As the years went by, the word “gentleman” became, to Josephine, a private term of abuse.Josephine toured the country making speeches criticizing the contagious diseases acts. She was an outstanding speaker, an attracted large audiences to hear her explain why these laws needed to be repealed. Many people were shocked by the idea of a woman speaking in public about sexual matters. Josephine’s husband was severely criticized for allowing his wife to become involved in the campaign, but he continued to support her. Josephine also became involved in a campaign against child prostitution. In 1855, Mrs. Butler joined together with Florence Boothof the Salvation Army and W.H. Stead the editor of the Pall Mall Gazette, to expose what had become known as the White Slave Traffic. The group used the case of Eliza Armstrong, a 13-year-old daughter of a chimney sweep, who was bought for 5 pounds by a woman working for a London Brothel. As a result of the publicity that the Eliza Armstrong case generated, parliament passed the Criminal Law Amendment Act that raised the age of consent from 13 to 16 years old. After the Contagious Diseases Act was repealed in 1886, Josephine spent most of her time writing, and she died in 1906. ...
