In the 19th century, the Contagious Diseases Acts were passed in the UK and Ireland to curtail the spread of venereal disease among military personnel in certain cities. In this episode, we talk to Dr Anne Hanley, a Junior Research Fellow at New College, Oxford, about why this legislation had such a disproportionate effect on women and what we can learn from them today.

You can listen to this on SoundCloud and iTunes.

Produced by: Dr Kira Allmann
Interview(s) with: Dr Anne Hanley
Music by: Rosemary Allmann

Original release: 11 April 2017