While in Paris Guillaume-Schack became active in the abolitionist movement started by Josephine Butler of England to fight state-regulated prostitution.
She began the campaign in Germany with the same goals.

In her view, compulsory medical examinations and other regulations imposed on prostitutes penalized the women, but ignored their male clients.

In January 1879 she went to Berlin to work for the cause, and in May 1879 gave her first lectures to very small audiences.

She spoke publicly against state-regulated prostitution in the city hall of Berlin on 14 May 1880, but very few people turned up to hear her.

On 7 March 1880 she founded the Deutscher Kulturbund (German Cultural Association) in Berlin.

The Deutscher Kulturbund was, in effect, the first chapter of what would become the International Abolitionist Federation (IAF) in Germany.

Technically, it was independent of the IAF, due to restrictions imposed by the laws of Prussia, and was based in Beuthen an der Oder,
however, it followed the principles that Butler had defined.

Although she was supported by the leaders of the Berlin's women's movement, Lina Morgenstern and Franziska Tiburtius, progress was slow.
Many respectable people thought that it was not proper for them to discuss prostitution publicly.

Guillaume-Schack expressed this view when she opened a public talk in 1882 by saying, "perhaps it will have surprised you, that a matter so difficult to handle as the morality question should be discussed in public, and perhaps yet more that I, a woman, want to speak about it."

The Prussian Law of Association, which remained in force until 1908, also restricted the right of women to meet and talk about social and political issues in public.

Guillaume-Schack spoke at many events and meetings.
The Bulletin Continental, the organ of the British, Continental and General Federation (the future IAF), reported that in January and February 1882 she had spoken in Breslau, Liegnitz, Berlin, Hanover, Bonn, Cologne, and Düsseldorf.

In March she attended meetings in Elberfeld, Barmen, Wiesbaden, and then Darmstadt, where a large mixed meeting including women and girls was organized in the gymnasium.
The audience had been told of the subject in advance, and listened quietly other than a few male hecklers at the front.
She told them that the morality police were a source of difficulty for a young fallen woman who wanted to return to an honest life.
At this, the police commissioner and his agents went up to her and demanded that she stop her speech, since it was immoral.

The following day Guillaume-Schack and another participant were charged for having disturbed the peace and caused grave disorders.

Her trial was due to her effrontery in simply speaking openly about prostitution.

At the trial it was confirmed that Guillaume-Schack had been dignified and serious.
The trial turned into an inquiry into the vice squad, while the two defendants were acquitted.

It emerged that children of thirteen or fourteen years of age could be registered as prostitutes and allowed to practice this trade as long as they followed police regulations, the only trade a minor could follow without the permission of their parents.

In 1882 Guillaume-Schack published the polemical Über unsere sittlichen Verhältnisse ("About our moral relations") concerning prostitution and white slavery.

The movement gradually came to life.
The Berlin branch of the Cultural Association was allowed to hold meetings in a room at the Ministry of Religion and Justice, where they distributed a number of leaflets and brochures.
Some of the worst excesses of the system were curtailed.

Despite interference from the police the organization grew to twelve branches.
Many of its members were feminists.

They tried to help girls and women, and also to end regulated prostitution in Germany, a system that let these women "fall".

Guillaume-Schack met the Silesian activist Lina Morgenstern, and they founded the Verein zur Rettung und Erziehung minorenner strafentlassener Mädchen ("Association for the Rescue and Education of Girls Dismissed of C
While in Paris Guillaume-Schack became active in the abolitionist movement started by Josephine Butler of England to fight state-regulated prostitution. She began the campaign in Germany with the same goals.
In her view, compulsory medical examinations and other regulations imposed on prostitutes penalized the women, but ignored their male clients.
In January 1879 she went to Berlin to work for the cause, and in May 1879 gave her first lectures to very small audiences.
She spoke publicly against state-regulated prostitution in the city hall of Berlin on 14 May 1880, but very few people turned up to hear her.
On 7 March 1880 she founded the Deutscher Kulturbund (German Cultural Association) in Berlin.
The Deutscher Kulturbund was, in effect, the first chapter of what would become the International Abolitionist Federation (IAF) in Germany.
Technically, it was independent of the IAF, due to restrictions imposed by the laws of Prussia, and was based in Beuthen an der Oder,
however, it followed the principles that Butler had defined.
Although she was supported by the leaders of the Berlin's women's movement, Lina Morgenstern and Franziska Tiburtius, progress was slow. Many respectable people thought that it was not proper for them to discuss prostitution publicly.
Guillaume-Schack expressed this view when she opened a public talk in 1882 by saying, "perhaps it will have surprised you, that a matter so difficult to handle as the morality question should be discussed in public, and perhaps yet more that I, a woman, want to speak about it."
The Prussian Law of Association, which remained in force until 1908, also restricted the right of women to meet and talk about social and political issues in public.
Guillaume-Schack spoke at many events and meetings. The Bulletin Continental, the organ of the British, Continental and General Federation (the future IAF), reported that in January and February 1882 she had spoken in Breslau, Liegnitz, Berlin, Hanover, Bonn, Cologne, and Düsseldorf.
In March she attended meetings in Elberfeld, Barmen, Wiesbaden, and then Darmstadt, where a large mixed meeting including women and girls was organized in the gymnasium. The audience had been told of the subject in advance, and listened quietly other than a few male hecklers at the front. She told them that the morality police were a source of difficulty for a young fallen woman who wanted to return to an honest life. At this, the police commissioner and his agents went up to her and demanded that she stop her speech, since it was immoral.
The following day Guillaume-Schack and another participant were charged for having disturbed the peace and caused grave disorders.
Her trial was due to her effrontery in simply speaking openly about prostitution.
At the trial it was confirmed that Guillaume-Schack had been dignified and serious. The trial turned into an inquiry into the vice squad, while the two defendants were acquitted.
It emerged that children of thirteen or fourteen years of age could be registered as prostitutes and allowed to practice this trade as long as they followed police regulations, the only trade a minor could follow without the permission of their parents.
In 1882 Guillaume-Schack published the polemical Über unsere sittlichen Verhältnisse ("About our moral relations") concerning prostitution and white slavery.
The movement gradually came to life. The Berlin branch of the Cultural Association was allowed to hold meetings in a room at the Ministry of Religion and Justice, where they distributed a number of leaflets and brochures. Some of the worst excesses of the system were curtailed.
Despite interference from the police the organization grew to twelve branches. Many of its members were feminists.
They tried to help girls and women, and also to end regulated prostitution in Germany, a system that let these women "fall".
Guillaume-Schack met the Silesian activist Lina Morgenstern, and they founded the Verein zur Rettung und Erziehung minorenner strafentlassener Mädchen ("Association for the Rescue and Education of Girls Dismissed of C
Gertrude Guillaume-Schack