In a generation currently reeling from the redacted “Epstein Files” and the exposure of “spiritual wickedness in high places,” it is essential to remember those who fought these same demons in the centuries past. One such warrior was Josephine Butler (1828–1906). While the world today cowers behind legal technicalities and redacted names, Butler stood before the powerful of Victorian England and demanded that the light of God’s truth penetrate the darkest corners of systemic corruption.
A Heart Broken by What Breaks God’s Heart
Josephine Butler was born into a family of abolitionists, raised with the conviction that every human being bears the imago Dei—the image of God. Her faith was not a passive Sunday ritual but a consuming fire. After the tragic death of her young daughter, Butler did not retreat into private grief. Instead, she sought out those whose suffering was greater than her own, descending into the workhouses and back alleys of Liverpool to minister to women trapped in the “Slave trade.”
She understood that the exploitation of the vulnerable was not merely a social ill but a direct affront to the Creator.
“Deliver me from the oppression of man: so will I keep thy precepts.” (Psalm 119:134, KJV)
Standing Against the “High Places”
In the 1860s, the British Parliament passed the Contagious Diseases Acts. Under the guise of “national security” and “public health” for the military, these laws allowed police to forcibly arrest and medically violate any woman suspected of being a prostitute. Crucially, the men who frequented these brothels—often members of the aristocracy and the military elite—were never touched.
Butler recognized this for exactly what it was: institutionalized sin. She saw that the law was designed to protect the “pleasures” of the powerful while crushing the poor. Despite being a woman of high social standing, she risked her reputation, her safety, and her health to lead a twenty-year crusade for the repeal of these laws.
She was pelted with stones, her meetings were broken up by hired thugs, and the “polite society” of her day branded her a “shameless woman” for even mentioning such topics. Yet, like the prophets of old, she refused to be silenced.
Exposing the Elite
Butler’s most harrowing work involved exposing the international traffic of children. Alongside journalist W.T. Stead and the Salvation Army’s Bramwell Booth, she helped expose a system where young girls were literally “bought” for five pounds and trafficked across the English Channel for the gratification of the wealthy.
She did not care if the names involved reached into the House of Commons or the Royal Courts. Her allegiance was to a Higher Court.
“Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people…” (Isaiah 10:1-2, KJV)
Faith in Action
Josephine Butler’s victory did not come through political compromise, but through unwavering obedience. In 1886, her decades of labor resulted in the repeal of the Acts she loathed. She eventually saw the age of consent raised and international laws established against human trafficking.
She proved that one person, armed with the Word of God and an uncompromising mission, can shake the foundations of a corrupt empire. As we watch the redacted files of 2025 being manipulated by the hands of the powerful, let the life of Josephine Butler remind us that God always has His witnesses.
The darkness may be dense, and the redactions may be many, but the Truth is not bound.
“For nothing is secret, that shall not be made manifest; neither any thing hid, that shall not be known and come abroad.” (Luke 8:17, KJV)