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unanimously recommended the re-enactment of the contagious diseases legislation in its entirety including the registration of all brothels, the licensing of their inmates and the compulsory medical examination of all prostitutes whether working in brothels or independently. The Governor quickly accepted the conclusions of the report; a bill was drafted to implement them without delay; and both were sent home for the approval of the Secretary of State.
The draft bill immediately evoked a storm of protest. To calm the critics both inside and outside the House of Commons the Secretary of State appointed a new Advisory Committee on Social Hygiene and asked it to consider the bill and the report on which it was based. The committee included the redoubtable Mrs. Neville-Rolfe and Lady Astor. It spent little time in considering the arguments put forward in the Straits Settlements for the state control of prostitution, which it considered to be completely discredited. Its final report asserted that, quite apart from the moral arguments, periodical examinations of prostitutes was medically ineffective in checking the spread of venereal disease; no examination could guarantee that a woman was free of disease, and even if she was she could become infected immediately afterwards or be the carrier of the contagion from one client to the next; such examinations merely gave men a false sense of security and encouraged promiscuity. The committee recommended various measures to improve social conditions, better housing, education and more recreational facilities; more doctors and free diagnosis and treatment. Its main conclusion was that all known brothels should progressively be closed down commencing with those frequented by Europeans, and that all sly brothels should be closed as soon as they were detected. The committee's conclusions were unanimous and the Secretary of State, Leo Amery, had no alternative but to over-rule the Governor and direct that the recommendations of the committee should be carried out. This was done and the closure of brothels in the Straits Settlements commenced in 1927.
The Social Hygiene Committee had only been asked to consider what was to be done at Singapore, but its conclusions obviously applied equally to Hong Kong and other colonies. But no similar
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unanimously recommended the re-enactment of the contagious diseases legislation in its entirety including the registration of all brothels, the licensing of their inmates and the compulsory medi- cal examination of all prostitutes whether working in brothels or independently. The Governor quickly accepted the conclusions of the report; a bill was drafted to implement them without delay; and both were sent home for the approval of the Secretary of State.
The draft bill immediately evoked a storm of protest. To calm the critics both inside and outside the House of Commons the Secretary of State appointed a new Advisory Committee on Social Hygiene and asked it to consider the bill and the report on which it was based. The committee included the redoubtable Mrs. Neville- Rolfe and Lady Astor. It spent little time in considering the argu- ments put forward in the Straits Settlements for the state control of prostitution, which it considered to be completely discredited. Its final report asserted that, quite apart from the moral argu- ments, periodical examinations of prostitutes was medically inef- fective in checking the spread of venereal disease; no examination could guarantee that a woman was free of disease, and even if she was she could become infected immediately afterwards or be the carrier of the contagion from one client to the next; such examina- tions merely gave men a false sense of security and encouraged promiscuity. The committee recommended various measures to improve social conditions, better housing, education and more recreational facilities; more doctors and free diagnosis and treat- ment. Its main conclusion was that all known brothels should progressively be closed down commencing with those frequented by Europeans, and that all sly brothels should be closed as soon as they were detected." The committee's conclusions were unani- mous and the Secretary of State, Leo Amery, had no alternative but to over-rule the Governor and direct that the recommenda- tions of the committee should be carried out. This was done and the closure of brothels in the Straits Settlements commenced in 1927.
The Social Hygience Committee had only been asked to consid- er what was to be done at Singapore, but its conclusions obviously applied equally to Hong Kong and other colonies. But no similar
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