Report from the Select Committee on the Contagious Diseases Acts : together with the proceedings of the Committee, minutes of evidence and appendix.

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on the Contagious Diseases Acts.
Date:
1881
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report from the Select Committee on the Contagious Diseases Acts : together with the proceedings of the Committee, minutes of evidence and appendix. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    Report, 1881—continued. Shaeii, William. (Analysis of his Evidence)—continued. when any charge is brought against policeman for misconduct under tiie Acts, 7000- 700.5. Grounds for the statement that the police depend upon very unreliable and tainted evidence in cominij to the conclusion that certain women are prostitutes, 7006-7009 Immoral (vidence upon which it is often concluded that women are clandestine prosti- tutes, 7008, 7009. Evidence in detail relative to the case of a publican named Turner, charged by the police in December 1876 vviih keeping a brothel at Stonehouse, and with harbouring diseased prostitutes; grounds for the conclusion that this was a decided case of persecu- tion on the |ia!t of the police under the Contaoious Diseases Acts, 7010-7029 Appeal in the fore<joing c;ise from the maaistnite's decision, inflicting a fine on Turner; judgment given in the Quetn's Bench Division to the effect that the metropolitan police on local duty at Stoneliousc had exceeded their functions in the matter, 7013-7017 Comment upon the evidence on which Turner was deprived of a pension by the Admiralty, and was eventually convicied of li.irbouring a diseased prostitute, and his license was withdrawn, 7017-7019 Illustration in Turner's case of the natural reluctance of individuals to take proceedings against the police fi>r abuse of their powers in the matter of domiciliary visits, 7025, 7026. Information supplied by Mr. John iVIarshall, agent at Plymouth for witness' associa- tion, relative to various instances of abuse of power on the part of the police in forciag their way into private houses in :-eaich of common prostitutes, 7029-7047 Statement by the clerk to the magi--trates at Plymouth as to the metropolitan police vvlio enforce the Acts not being under local jurisdiction, 7031-7035 Several instances of abuse by way of personation of the police, w hich would have been impossible if the latter had been obliged to wear uniloim, 7047-7050. [Third Examination.]—Explanation that materials fir a memorial to the Home Office, as regards personation ol' the pilice, were supplied to witness, but tliat these were over- looked by him and the memorial was never sent, 7051. Further statement upon the subject of t!ie appointment of examining surgeons as magistrates, witness complaining that the appeal by a woman against her detention in hospital might be to the examining surgeon who had sent her there, 705a Examina- tion in detail on the foregoing point, witness admitting that he is not aware of any case in which either of the three examinini; surgeons, who have been apf)ointed magisti-ates, had acted niagisterially, the Home Secretary having moreover stated that these gentlemen would refuse so to act; witness disclaims all personal imputation in this matter, but con- demns tlie system which allows such action, 7052-7071. 7321. Average of about 3,000/. a year as the income of the National Association for the Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts ; part payment by this means of the cost of local public meetings, 7071-7074 Statement to the effect that actions have not been brought agaitist the police lor illegal conduct or false imprisoniuent, tiiough witness be- lieves there have been sevc)ral cases justifying such actions ; great obstacles to the success of legal proceedings in tlie matter, 7075-7084. 7131-7155 Belief as to the illegality of the compulsory examination of an unwilling woman; exceeding difficulty in substantiating legal proceedings on the subject, 7088-7096. Reference to the cases adduced by witness before the Committee as proving improper conduct on the part of the police, 7097-7099 Degrading effect of the Acts, the women who are subjected to them being all the more difScull to reclaim, 7100, 7101. Examination with further reference to the term common prostitute, and the want of a proper definition of the term ; undue reliance now placed by the magistrate upon the policeman's statement that a woman is a ■'common prostitute, 7102-7130 Use of the term common prostitute in some Acts long anterior to the Contagious Diseases Acts; question considered as to any difficulty of interpretation having been experienced by the magistrates in administering the former Acts, 7103-7130. Special and exceptional powers of the university authorities at Oxford and Cambridge in dealing with prostitutes; liability to action for damages in the event of wrongful proceedings, 7131-7136. 7139 Instances of girls having been subjected to examina- tion who were found to be virgins, 7149-7154. 7190 Grounds for the statement that a woman cannot withdraw from the operation of the Acts unless she convinces the exa- mining surgeon and policeman that she has ceased to be a prostitute; great difficulty in lier proving this, 7156-7161. Reclamation of a considerable number of women by means of homes and voluntary asso- ciations, in opposition to the system of the Acts and without any co-operation on the part of the police, 7161-7165 Obstruction rather than co-operation on the part of the police at Devon port, 7161 Interference of the Acts with personal liberty even after discharge from hospital; frequency of the women being asked to sign the voluntary sub- mission on leaving the hospital, 7166-7171. 7186, 7187. Distinction