Depo-Provera, Class, Race, and the Domiciliary Family Planning Services in Glasgow and Haringey, 1970–1983
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8955756 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Caroline Rusterholz (0000-0002-8611-031X, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies), Laura Kelly (0000-0003-1454-9240) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 68 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 216-238 |
| Publication date | 2024-10-17 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Historical Journal (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-246X • E-ISSN: 1469-5103 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0018246x24000347 |
| OpenAlex | W4403491576 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 13 |
In 1976, the Committee of Safety of Medicines (CSM) in Britain authorized the contraceptive injectable Depo-Provera (DP) for short-term use and for two main reasons only: if a woman had received a rubella vaccine or if her partner had just undergone a vasectomy. Although officially authorized on restricted grounds only, the drug appears to have been widely prescribed by doctors of the Domiciliary Family Planning Services (DFPS). This article takes the prescription of DP in the DFPS of Haringey, a multiracial neighbourhood in London, and Glasgow as a comparative case-study to explore the intersections of medical authority, race, and class. Drawing on the archives of the Wellcome Collection, London, and the NHS Archives of the Mitchell Library in Glasgow, we show that the DFPS offered the ideal setting to test and prescribe Depo-Provera widely. In the hands of the medical profession, the drug at times became a tool of violence towards women from disadvantaged backgrounds. In doing so, we contribute to the wider, global history of DP, and illustrate how racist, classist, and ableist prejudices could shape family planning services in the British context
Class (philosophy · Family planning · Genealogy · Population · Race (biology · Research methodology · Sociology · Artificial Intelligence · Computer Science · Demography · Gender Studies · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History · Irish and British Studies · Medicine · Scottish History and National Identity
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Men Too
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Youth Sexuality, Responsibility, and the Opening of the Brook Advisory Centres in London and Birmingham in the 1960s
Migration, Racism and Sexual Health in Postwar Britain
Injectable Development
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |