Page:A short history of nursing - Lavinia L Dock (1920).djvu/225

209 Extensions of Nursing Field 209 a thrilling and incredible story. Realizing the strength of the "conspiracy of silence" which sup- ported the most absolute taboo known in history, namely, that based upon the double standard of morals, we must revere Josephine Butler with a special reverence. Of all the women of the Victo- rian age who dared public obloquy by moral fear- lessness in attacking wrong, she was the greatest, for the evil she attacked was the most formidable. There had been enlightened minorities in the medical profession to take a firm stand against the double standard, and a group of such men had urged Mrs. Butler to lead a revolt, for they realized that it must be made a popular one, and especially a women's revolt. Medical men of this fine calibre formed societies in different countries, in which the laity were included, to popularize knowledge on sex questions and to disseminate correct in- formation on the related problems of immorality and venereal disease. By the beginning of the present century the whole question had been freed from the taboo and brought out into the open. Trained nurses took some share in this discussion. ^ In 1909, at national and international meetings, their experiences and contacts with the dark subject were related. The fact was then brought out that most hospitals had been giving their 14