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Story: Sexual health

Social hygiene

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Social hygiene

‘Social hygiene’ was a term used in the early 20th century to discuss venereal diseases. This poster, produced for the Women’s Social Hygiene Association in 1920, was displayed in women’s waiting rooms in railway stations across Canterbury.

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How to cite this page

Jane Tolerton, Sexual health – Community responses, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/ephemera/27221/social-hygiene (accessed 25 June 2026).

Story by Jane Tolerton, published 30 March 2011.