The Spinster and Her Enemies - Feminish

‘HENPECKING’
opposed as the rest. Therefore the NVA decided to draft a Bill
dealing only with incest in the hope that it would have an easier
passage. An Incest Bill was introduced in 1889 and again blocked,
and in 1903 the Incest Bill got as far as the House of Lords. In
the Lords the Lord Chancellor, Lord Halsbury, rejected the Bill
on the grounds that there was no need for legislation on the
subject despite the hundreds of meetings organised by the NVA
which had sent resolutions in support. The Bill was reintroduced
in each session by its sponsor, Colonel Lockwood, until in 1908,
as a result of receiving favourable consideration from the
government, it got through both Houses and became law. The
Punishment of Incest Act 1908 was a much narrower measure
than the feminists had campaigned for. It applied only to
biological relatives, and did not protect girls from sexual
exploitation from other males in positions of authority. It stated
‘any male person who has carnal knowledge of a female person
known to be his grand daughter, daughter, sister or mother is
guilty of a misdemeanor and liable to penal servitude of not
less than 3 years, and not more than 7 years.’ The Act also fell
short of the feminists’ aims in stating that a’female over 16 was
also guilty if she consented’. They had wanted an age limit of
18. The Act also stated that an offender would lose all
‘guardianship’ for the offence. The Act has remained
substantially the same to the present day.
The campaign for the 1922 Act
After the Punishment of Incest Act was passed, attention turned
once more to the need for an Act amending the 1885 Act. In
1912 a committee was formed to further such legislation entitled
the ‘Pass the Bill’ Committee which changed its name within
the year to the ‘Criminal Law Amendment’ Committee. In a
1912 leaflet entitled The Age of Consent the committee urged
the necessity of a national campaign to: raise the age of consent
to at least 18 for girls, to protect girls up to 21 from seduction
by employers or guardians, to repeal the reasonable cause to
believe clause, to protect boys up to 16 (or 18) from seduction
by women, and to extend the time limit from 6 to 12 months.
Supporters were given tips on how to help with campaigning:
‘Arrange meetings in drawing rooms, or in public, circulate
petitions to parliament, send a deputation of local people to the
MP who represents your town or district and distribute these
leaflets where they are needed.’ 17 The committee included some
well known feminist names such as Mrs Fawcett, Miss Emily
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