环球英语 — 697：Woman of Change Josephine Butler
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Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Mike Procter.
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And I'm Nick Page. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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Today’s Spotlight programme was written by Shelagh Godwin. Forty years ago Shelagh was educated at Cambridge University in England. When she finished, she received a degree from the university. Her degree made it easy for her to find work. She also remembers being happy when she became old enough to vote. She was able to vote for the person she wanted to represent her in Parliament. She could also vote for people to represent her in local government.
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One hundred years ago Shelagh would not have been able to do any of this. The reason? She is a woman! And women had no power in Britain one hundred years ago. But many people were struggling to change social ideas about women. Today’s Spotlight celebrates just one such person. Women all over the world who can receive a university education can thank this woman. Women who can make important decisions outside the home can also thank her. Her name was Josephine Butler.
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Josephine Butler was born in 1828. Her father was John Grey. Grey was very interested in social reform. He opposed the slave trade. His cousin was Earl Grey. Earl Grey was Prime Minister of Great Britain between 1830 and 1834.
Later Josephine wrote:
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‘When my father spoke to us of the great wrong of slavery, I have felt his powerful body shake - and his voice would break. He told us sad stories of the bad treatment of negro men and women. I say women, for I think their deal was particularly horrible. They were forced to have sex with their masters, or be victimised and die.’
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When Josephine was 34 years old, she married George Butler. They had four children, but in 1863 there was a tragedy. Josephine saw her daughter die in an accident. The little girl was six years old. Josephine was very shocked by this. She decided that she would spend the rest of her life helping other people. She said she wanted to:
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‘Find some pain worse than my own – to meet with people more unhappy than myself’
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In cities in Great Britain in the nineteenth century there were many poor children. They needed money, and were willing to do anything to get it. This included young girls offering themselves to have sex for money. They became prostitutes. Sadly, this still happens in many countries. Josephine Butler decided to help these prostitutes. She visited workhouses - places where the poorest people stayed. Later, she bought a large house. It was to be a place where poor young girls could grow in safety and health.
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One example of Josephine’s work concerned the case of Eliza Armstrong. Eliza Armstrong was thirteen. She was the daughter of a very poor man. He sold Eliza for five pounds to a woman who worked with prostitutes. Many people protested about this. Among them was Josephine Butler. Such protests caused a change of the age of consent. The age of consent is the age at which a person can agree to have sex with another person. The age of consent was thirteen. Campaigners like Josephine Butler persuaded the government change it to sixteen. This made having sex with young girls illegal.
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Josephine was a campaigner - a person who tries to change unfair laws. One such law was designed to reduce disease among soldiers and sailors. These particular diseases were spread through having sex with prostitutes. This law was unfair because it put all the blame on women. Police could arrest women who they thought were prostitutes and make them have a medical test. If the women had the disease they could be locked away. Josephine Butler believed that these women were victims. They had been forced to become prostitutes because they needed money. She was a good speaker. She travelled all over Britain, giving speeches that opposed this law. Many people thought that a woman should not do this. They told her husband that he should not allow her to speak about sex. But he supported her, and she continued. Her campaign was successful. Parliament decided to cancel this unfair law in 1886.
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Josephine Butler’s husband was a university professor. Josephine knew that women could not get university degrees. She and her friend Anne Clough began offering higher education for women. Josephine became president of a society which encouraged this in the north of England. Then she began to campaign to persuade the University of Cambridge to permit women to study in the same way as men could. Later, the rules were changed. Women were able to go to lectures in Cambridge, and then a special college was started - just for women.
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And, many years later this is where Shelagh studied.
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Today, women can attend any college in Cambridge, and there are three colleges in Cambridge for women only.
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Yet Josephine did not believe that women were the same as men. She wrote a book in which she said that women should not try to compete with men. She said that they had a different part to play in society. Many other women disagreed with her. They thought that women were the same as men.
However, Josephine believed that women should be able to vote because they were different from men. She believed that women had a special job, to protect and care for weak and needy people.
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Before Josephine died in 1906 many other women were fighting to be given the right to vote. A few years later, some of them even tied themselves to the fence of Buckingham Palace, where the King lived. They were arrested and put into prison. But the women did finally win. In 1918 women in Great Britain were at last allowed to vote in a General Election. So Shelagh Godwin will vote this year!
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Josephine started her work because she was deeply religious. Her Christian beliefs led her to work to help people who were weak and poor and who were badly treated. Later, she took her work to other countries outside England. She became an international campaigner. Even today, Josephine’s story can encourage women to think, to speak, and to act for what they believe. And it can encourage men to remember that there is nothing good about oppressing women. As Shelagh says, ‘Yes, women can do things too!’
