工业革命以来,英国卖淫的盛行造成性病患者日渐增多,如何防治性病遂引起社会关注。19世纪上半叶,民间团体和教会采用救助妓女、开设性病医院等措施来防治性病。19世纪中后期,为了降低军队性病的发病率,议会先后颁布三部《传染病法》,逐步强化对军事要塞和城镇妓女的医学检查,并试图将这一举措推广至全国。然而,以中产阶级女性为主体的废除派从道德、法律、阶层、性别等角度谴责《传染病法》,并发起废除《传染病法》的运动。同时,废除派还揭露“白奴贸易”的罪恶,呼吁社会关注雏妓问题。在议会内外废除派的共同努力下,《传染病法》被废除,性病防治又回归成为公民的个人事务。这场性病防治争端既展现了英国注重个人自由的传统,又推动了女权运动的兴起。 Since the Industrial Revolution, the prevalence of prostitution in the United Kingdom has led to an increasing number of STDs and how to prevent and control sexually transmitted diseases has caused public concern. In the first half of the 19th century, civil society groups and churches used programs such as helping prostitutes and establishing a venereal disease hospital to prevent sexually transmitted diseases. In the mid-to-late 19th century, in order to reduce the incidence of STDs in the armed forces, the Parliament promulgated three “Infectious Disease Laws” successively to gradually strengthen the medical examination of military fortresses and urban prostitutes and tried to extend this measure to the whole country. However, the abolitionist, mainly composed of middle-class women, condemned the “Infectious Disease Law” in terms of morality, law, class and gender, and initiated the campaign to abolish the “Infectious Disease Law.” At the same time, the abolition of the camp also exposed the evil of “white slave trade” and called on the community to pay attention to the issue of child prostitution. With the concerted efforts of the abolitionists inside and outside Parliament, the “Law of Infectious Diseases” was abolished and the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases returned to the personal matters of citizens. This dispute over STD prevention and control shows both Britain’s tradition of focusing on individual freedom and the rise of the feminist movement.