Sexual health - the last forty years

1964 – 1973

During the 1950s, contraception was not available to unmarried couples and abortion was illegal. Yet by 1960 the age at which young people first had sex dropped from 21 to 19 and an estimated quarter of a million young women were having unprotected sex every year. The founding of Brook in 1964 pioneered sexual health services to young unmarried women and was followed by a decade of radical change.

1964 

• First Brook Centre opened in London, founded by Helen Brook 

1966  

• Brook Centre opened in Birmingham

1967 

• Abortion Act passed
• Family Planning Act allowed local authorities to give contraceptive advice to people who were unmarried

1968

• Brook Centre opened in Bristol
• Brook Centre opened in Edinburgh

1969

• Brook clients reached 10,000 a year

1971

• Brook Centre in Birmingham reported Dr Robert Browne to the General Medical Council for    breaking the confidentiality of a 16 year old patient. This prompted the British Medical Association (BMA) to advise doctors to maintain the confidentiality of young patients.

1973

• Brook launched groundbreaking cinema advert promoting safer sex