Cat and Mouse Act

The Cat and Mouse Act was introduced due to the hunger strikes carried out by Emmeline and Christabel's suffragettes. Imprisoned women would refuse to eat, aiming to embarrass the government and create attention for women's rights.

The suffragettes were successful, especially in embarrassing the government, so as a result, the women were force-fed. This was an action usually only taken in lunatic asylums and hence was very controversial. Although it prevented death within the prison which would be even worse for the government, it did not help their image, reflecting poor control of their people.

This is where the Cat and Mouse Act comes into play. The government resolved the issue in 1913 through relatively simple logic: When a suffragette was arrested and went on hunger strike, the government stopped force-feeding them and rather left them to become ill and weak, a state in which they were not able to harm the public. They would then be released 'on license' so they didn't die in the prison and create political drama. The period of time the women received out of prison was included in their sentence and then they would be re-arrested to finish their sentence, whereby it was likely they would again go on hunger strike and so the 'Cat and Mouse' scenario moves in circles.

The idea of being released assumed that the suffragette would begin to eat again and regain strength. With this new strength, they would be put back into the prison, making life easier on the government. 

The name 'Cat and Mouse Act' was brought about due to a cat's tendency to play with its prey before it is killed.

It is arguable as to whether the Cat and Mouse Act was actually effective in preventing suffragette actions against the government, however at the time it did "save" the government's reputation. Violent acts by the movement did not actually cease until 1914 when World War One broke out.