Stepping up to the plate

WHEN COURAGE CALLS:
Josephine Butler and the Pursuit of
Justice for Women
By Sarah C. Williams
Hodder & Stoughton. 311 pages. £25
ISBN 978 1 399 803 731

Q: What do you call someone who heads a movement which overturns unjust and exploitative practices supported by legislation? A: A Christian.

The person in question is Josephine Butler who brought the scandal of the sexual double standard prevalent in mid nineteenth century Britain to public attention. This eventually led to the repeal of The Contagious Diseases Acts, which compelled women suspected of prostitution to submit to internal examinations and internment in special ‘lock’ prisons for up to nine months until symptoms of venereal disease had ceased: a measure designed to protect military men from being infected.

Noteworthy is that the hero of this book is not Butler but her heavenly Father, a judgement which Butler would have considered only right and fair, since the main tool for her campaign was prayer. From an early age, following the example of a Godly father, she developed a time-consuming, sacrificial attitude to personal prayer. This was reinforced by her study of the life of the medieval mystic Catherine of Siena (of whom Butler wrote a definitive biography). The burden of seeking justice for social outcasts was driven by her own identification with the penitent woman who poured perfume over Jesus’s feet: surely a wonderful work of grace in this thoroughly respectable middleclass woman.

As she sought others to join her campaign , she looked for those who were eager to pray: and she didn’t mind who they were. She completely distanced herself from any denominational prejudice and welcomed Churchmen, Salvationists and Quakers into the ranks. Over time the network of prayer meetings spread throughout Britain and into Continental Europe where this pernicious practice was also widespread.

We are greatly in the debt of the author for bringing Butler’s work to our attention. Williams has produced an engagingly written, thoroughly researched, fascinating and inspiring biography of a pioneer of the women’s movement. One who is generally omitted from catalogues of significant figures in that area, a fact, Williams suggests, that is attributable to Butler’s strong Christian faith and the fact that she was happily married and a devoted mother.

This book provides a powerful challenge to believers in Butler’s God. We need many men and women like Butler in our day. We could start by praying, perhaps?