Josephine Elizabeth Butler (April 13, 1828 - December 30, 1906) was an English feminist and social reformer in the Victorian era. In 1869 she became involved in the campaign to repeal the Contagious Diseases Acts, legislation that attempted to control the spread of venereal diseases through the forced medical examination of prostitutes, a process she described as surgical or steel rape. The campaign achieved its final success in 1886 with the repeal of the Acts. She also campaigned for women's suffrage and the right of women to better education. No photographer credited, 1876.