Reply to comment

 Prostitutes in the late 19th century England were subjected to legal and medical intervention in the name of keeping the empire safe.  Unwilling to have the men in the military examined for V.D., a serious problem for the armed forces, laws were passed that any woman (prostitute or lower class) who was suspected of being infected was required to submit to a medical exam.  

They mattered because the technology and the science were available to alleviate a social and medical problem, the spread of disease, but instead by application or prohibition of science and technology, the government  imposed a policy that put the burden solely on  women.  These laws would contribute to the outrage that would bring together the lower and middle class feminists of that day.