Josephine Butler

Josephine Butler (1828–1906) was an Anglican social reformer whose prophetic witness grounded radical social transformation in Christian theology. Her relentless campaign against the Contagious Diseases Acts—legislation that subjected women suspected of prostitution to invasive, mandatory medical examination without legal recourse—mobilized public opinion and ultimately secured parliamentary repeal in 1886. Butler established rescue homes for exploited women, articulated a theology of human dignity rooted in the Incarnation, and pioneered a distinctively Christian feminism that challenged both patriarchal institutions and complacent religious respectability.

Josephine Butler exemplifies the prophetic Anglican voice grounded in incarnational theology and committed to defending the dignity of the most vulnerable. Her work pioneered a distinctively Christian feminism and established a model of faithful activism in which theological conviction drives social transformation. She is venerated in contemporary Christian feminism and in the witness of those defending exploited and marginalized persons.

Josephine Grey Butler was born in 1828 to a prominent English family and educated at home with exceptional rigor. In 1852, she married George Butler, an Anglican cleric and reformer. After the death of their young daughter in 1863, Josephine experienced a spiritual crisis that redirected her energies toward the plight of vulnerable women. When Parliament passed the Contagious Diseases Acts (1864, 1866, 1869)—legislation authorizing police to forcibly examine women suspected of prostitution—Butler became the leading voice against this institutional violation. She organized meetings, published exposés (The Constitution Violated, Woman's Work and Woman's Culture), corresponded with international reformers, and mobilized working-class women as advocates for their own dignity. Her theology grounded this activism in Christological conviction: the Incarnation affirms the worth of every human body and spirit. Butler's rescue homes offered practical hospitality and spiritual formation to women exiting prostitution. She worked across denominational and class boundaries, building alliances with Quakers, Methodists, and working-class activists. The repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts in 1886 vindicated her decade-long campaign. Butler continued lecturing and writing on Christian ethics, human dignity, and women's spiritual authority until her death in 1906.

• Reformer
• Social Reformer