Barbara Gabeler

Thesis title: 'A conspiracy of silence: abortion, birth control and eugenics in twentieth-century Scotland'

Background

Born and raised in Rotterdam. I moved to Glasgow in 2016 to pursue a joint-honours degree (MA) in History and Economic and Social History at the University of Glasgow. During my undergraduate degree, I developed a keen interest in gender history and the history of medicine, and more specifically in topics at the intersection of these fields, such as reproductive healthcare and population policy. Following my MA, I pursued an MSc in Gender History in 2020 at the same institution.

In September 2022, I started my PhD at the University of Edinburgh, with cross-institutional supervision between Edinburgh and the University of Glasgow. I am immensely grateful to have been awarded a SGSAH AHRC DTP Studentship to fund this research.

Qualifications

  • MSc Gender History, with Distinction (University of Glasgow, 2020 - 2021)

Dissertation: ‘The most defenceless of the British subjects of the Queen’: The prostitute and prostitution in the Scottish popular imagination between 1840 – 1892

  • MA History and Economic and Social History, First Class Hons (University of Glasgow, 2016 - 2020)

Dissertation: Only Wunschkinder: A comparative study of discourses on abortion in media and state policies in East and West Germany between 1945 – 1977

Responsibilities & affiliations

  • Admin and social media officer for the Histories of Gender and Sexuality Research Group

Undergraduate teaching

University of Edinburgh:

  • The Historian's Toolkit (HIST08032)
  • The History of Edinburgh (HIST08036)

University of Glasgow:

  • Economic and Social History 2A: Britain 1770-1914 (ESH2001)
  • Economic and Social History 2B: Britain since 1914 (ESH2002)

Current research interests

My PhD examines the Scottish birth control movement from c. 1920 to the 1967 NHS Family Planning Act. It explores the birth control clinics established by the Family Planning Association in Scotland, the various interest groups campaigning for the integration of contraceptive services into standard healthcare services, and the voices of resistance. Given that the Scottish Department of Health did not officially authorise contraceptive services until 1966, whereas the Ministry of Health sanctioned them in 1931, my research investigates the factors behind this delay, the circumstances that ultimately led to a policy change, and the impact of restricted access on individuals seeking contraceptive services, particularly where access varied geographically and by socio-economic status. This research thereby offers insights into how social and economic dynamics combine to inform policy and influence health provision.