Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913

The Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913 (also known as the "Cat and Mouse Act") was an Act of Parliament passed in Britain under Herbert Henry Asquith's Liberal government in 1913. Some members of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU, commonly referred to as suffragettes) had been imprisoned for acts of vandalism in support of Women's suffrage. In protest to being imprisoned some of these suffragettes undertook hunger strikes. These suffragettes were then force-fed leading to a public outcry. This act was a response to the outcry; it allowed the prisoners to be released on licence as soon as the hunger strike affected their health. They then had a period of time in which they could recover. After a predetermined period of time the prisoner would be rearrested to serve out the rest of their sentence. Conditions could be placed on the prisoner during the time of their release. The hunger strikes themselves were now technically legal. However, the Act allowed for the re-imprisonment of the hunger strikers upon their recovery on their original charges. The nickname of the Act came about because of a cat’s habit of playing with its prey (a mouse) before finishing it off.

After the act was introduced suffragettes were no longer force-fed during their time in prison, which had previously been common practice to combat the hunger strikes. Rather, suffragettes on hunger strike were kept in prison until they became extremely weak, at which point they would be released to recover. This allowed the government to claim that any harm (or even death) which resulted from the starvation was entirely the fault of the suffragette. After this, any wrongdoing on the part of the suffragette would see them put straight back in prison.

To attain the goal of suffrage on the same basis as men, the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU, known colloquially as the suffragettes) engaged in acts of protest such as the breaking of windows, arson, and the "technical assault" (without causing harm) of police officers. Many WSPU members were jailed for these offences. In response to what the organisation viewed as brutal punishment and harsh treatment by the government at the time, imprisoned WSPU members embarked on a sustained campaign of hunger strikes. Some women were freed on taking this action, but this rendered the policy of imprisonment of suffragettes futile.

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