National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 106 3NAR
Held at	: Women's Library   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://www.lse.ac.uk/Library/Collections/Collection-highlights/The-Womens-Library ›
Full title	: National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts
Date(s)	: 1871-1890
Level of description	: fonds
Extent	: 2 A boxes
Name of creator(s)	: National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts
Detailed catalogue	: Click here to view repository detailed catalogue

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

The National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts (1869-1886) was established in 1869. In the 1840s there was an upsurge in concern with prostitution in the United Kingdom. Evangelical Christians, socialists and chartists all condemned the industry and moral campaigns were established to suppress vice. However, only after 1857's Royal Commission report on the health of the army and a follow-up report on the level of venereal disease in the military five years later did official tolerance of prostitution came to an end as the question became fused with contemporary concerns over public health. The result was three successive decrees in 1864, 1866 and 1869 known as the Contagious Diseases (referred to as the CD) Acts. By these, in certain towns containing military bases, any woman suspected of being a prostitute could be stopped and forced to undergo a genital inspection to discover if she had a venereal disease. If she did not submit willingly, she could be arrested and brought before a magistrate. If she was found to be infected, she could be effectively imprisoned in a 'lock' hospital. After the 1869 Social Sciences congress where the CD Acts were raised and condemned, a number of individuals established the National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act, originally under the title of the National Anti-Contagious Diseases Act Extension Association. An Executive Committee was elected which included Mr Robert Charlton as Treasurer and Frederick Banks as secretary with the Rev. Dr. Hoopell and Dr Worth as honorary secretaries. No women were originally included in the organisation, and though many later joined, this initial omission led to the formation of the Ladies National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act under Josephine Butler. Local branches were rapidly set up, particularly in the north of England and the Midlands. The following year, the NARCDA set up the journal 'The Shield' to promote their work. In the summer of 1870, the organisation merged with the Metropolitan Anti-Contagious Diseases Acts Association after a joint conference to form a London-based group better placed to influence parliamentary opinion. The new body continued under the name of the National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Act and by 1886 had around five hundred branches. In 1887 the decision was taken to dissolve the group, a year after the 1886 repeal of the acts, though it was not finally wound up until 1890.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

The archive consists of Minutes of the Executive Committee (1871-1890) and letterbook (1883-1886).

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Conditions governing access:

This collection is available for research. Readers are advised to contact The Women's Library in advance of their first visit.

Conditions governing reproduction:

Finding aids:

Fawcett Library Catalogue

Archival Information

Archival history:

Immediate source of acquisition:

This archive, together with the archives that make up Strand 3, was originally deposited by the Josephine Butler Society Library in 1957.

Allied Materials

Related material:

Copies of 'The Shield', the journal of the National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts, are also held by The Women's Library in the Printed Collections, class number 345.0253405. Please note the originals are very fragile so The Shield is available on microfilm only.

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Finding aid created by export from CALM v7.2.14 Archives Hub EAD2002. Edited for AIM25 by Sarah Drewery.

Rules or conventions:
In compliance with ISAD (G): General International Standard Archival Description - 2nd Edition (1999); UNESCO Thesaurus, December 2001; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
17/01/2008