Gertrude Guillaume-Schack
Gertrude Guillaume-Schack was a German women's rights activist who pioneered the fight against state-regulated prostitution in Germany, where she was born. She met considerable resistance due to the prevailing belief that such matters should not be discussed by respectable people, especially women. She also became active in organizing workers associations for German women, and was linked to the Social Democratic Party (SPD). Her activities and political views caused her to be exiled by the German authorities. She moved to England in 1886, where she became involved in Socialist organizations, but fell out with Friedrich Engels. After leaving the English Socialist League she became involved in theosophy. Refusal to accept medical treatment may have contributed to her early death of untreated breast cancer.
Gertrude Guillaume-Schack in 1867
Lina Morgenstern, who helped Guillaume-Schack run a women's hostel in Berlin
Annie Besant, socialist and theosophist
August Bebel influenced Guillaume-Schack, and he in turn learned from her
International Abolitionist Federation
The International Abolitionist Federation, founded in Liverpool in 1875, aimed to abolish state regulation of prostitution and fought the international traffic in women in prostitution. It was originally called the British and Continental Federation for the Abolition of Prostitution.
Attendees at an IAF Conference in Geneva, c. 1900
Josephine Butler, founder of the IAF
James Stansfeld, general secretary of the federation
Alison Neilans was the Association for Moral and Social Hygiene (AMSH) general secretary in the 1920s.