At the onset of World War I she founded the New Zealand Volunteer Sisterhood.
As part of that work, she travelled to Egypt in 1916 to help care for wounded or ill New Zealand soldiers. Once there she was shocked at the level of soldiers who had STDs.
Her campaigning saw prophylactic kits – including condoms and ointment – being issued to all New Zealand troops by the end of 1917. She also inspected brothels in Paris and the Somme; work that saw her being decorated by French authorities – receiving a Reconnaissance Francaise medal - and earning mentions in military dispatches back to New Zealand.
While her work was heralded on the front lines, back home it was the subject of harsh criticism. Her legacy lives on, with Christchurch's AIDs clinic being named after her.
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