Chamberlain-Kahn Act

The Chamberlain-Kahn Act of 1918 is a U.S. federal law passed on July 9, 1918 by the 65th United States Congress. The law's stated goal was to combat the spread of venereal disease. The act was primarily enacted in response to the high rates of venereal disease among US military recruits. The most notable aspect of this legislation is that it gave the government the power to forcefully detain, quarantine, and examine any woman suspected of having a venereal disease, which led to the involuntary detention of an estimated 30,000 women.

The Problem

America entered World War I with an undersized army, resulting in the first compulsory military draft since the American Civil War. The army grew from 128,000 members to four million by the end of the war. Large training camps were built throughout the US in order to train the vast amount of new recruits. These large, isolated camps populated by young men were often associated with excessive alcohol consumption and illicit sexual activities with local women. The culture of military camps coupled with rumors of widespread venereal disease among the militaries of Europe inspired the creation of the Commission on Training Camp Activities, which sought to investigate the sexual and moral cultures of these training camps.^[1] The commission report was written by Raymond Fosbick, the assistant to the Secretary of War Newton Baker. In the report, Fosbick urges preventative measures be taken against prostitution and the spread of venereal disease: "take all steps necessary to suppress prostitution in the neighborhood of military training camps...We know something of the experience through which our allies have gone. In some cases as much as thirty three and a third percent of the men have been made ineffective through venereal disease. We cannot afford to have any condition of that kind in connection with American troops."^[2] Shortly after the report was written, The Commission on Training Activities implemented the Chamberlain-Kahn Act.

The Law

The Chamberlain-Kahn Act of 1918 contains a series of measures intended to stop the spread of venereal disease. Firstly, it created the Interdepartmental Hygiene Board that controlled the allocation of funds for its stated purpose. Secondly, the act authorized the quarantine of citizens suspected of having venereal disease: "That the Secretary of War and the Secretary of the Navy are hereby authorized and directed to adopt measures for the purpose of assisting the various States in caring for civilian persons whose detention, isolation, quarantine, or commitment to institutions may be found necessary for the protection of the military and naval forces of the United States against venereal diseases." The act allocates $1,000,000 to fund this quarantine effort. Thirdly, the act created Division of Venereal Disease in the Bureau of the Public Health Service. The stated goal of the Division of Venereal disease was: "(1) to study and investigate the cause, treatment, and prevention of venereal diseases; (2) to cooperate with State boards or departments of health for the prevention and control of such diseases within the States; and (3) to control and prevent the spread of these diseases in interstate traffic."^[3]

Result

Under this law, women suspected to be prostitutes could be stopped, detained, inspected, and could sent to a rehabilitation center if they failed their examination. Any evidence of venereal disease found during one of these exams could constitute proof of prostitution. By 1919, thirty states had constructed facilities for the purpose of detaining and treating women with venereal disease; an estimated 30,000 women were detained and examined during the war. During the course of the war, 110 red light districts throughout America were shut down. Despite these efforts, the availability of prostitutes remained fairly constant around military camps, and rates of venereal disease remained quite high.

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