Public discussion of venereal disease was limited in the 19th and early 20th centuries. The shame attached to syphilis and gonorrhoea meant infection was hidden as far as possible. By the 1920s, when this report appeared in New Zealand Truth, venereal disease was publicly discussed – but only in general terms or when it affected people already on society’s margins. The article describes a 19-year-old woman whose baby had died from congenital syphilis as already having another illegitimate child, and pursuing 'an immoral career'.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
National Library of New Zealand, Papers Past
Reference:
NZ Truth, 12 July 1924, p. 6
Permission of the National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.
Tāpiritia te tākupu hou