Vivian Dowding (1892–1987) was a Canadian activist based in
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
who worked to improve
birth control
Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...
access for working class women. Representing the Parents' Information Bureau, and based in
Kamloops
Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the North Thompson River, North and South Thompson Rivers, which join to become the Thompson River in Kamloops, and east of Kamloops Lake. The city is the ad ...
, Dowding started travelling around the British Columbia's Southern Interior in 1937
to educate doctors about contraception and to help low-income women avoid unplanned pregnancy. Dowding operated in defiance of Canadian laws criminalizing birth control; birth control was not removed from the Canadian Criminal Code until 1969. Dowding was influenced by the work of
Margaret Sanger
Margaret Sanger ( Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966) was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. She opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, founded Planned Parenthood, and was instr ...
and saw birth control access as a necessary step to women's liberation and to lifting low-income women out of poverty.
She was an active member of Canada's
Co-operative Commonwealth Federation
The Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF; , FCC) was a federal democratic socialism, democratic socialistThe following sources describe the CCF as a democratic socialist political party:
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and then Canada's
New Democratic Party
The New Democratic Party (NDP; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic:
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until her death in 1987.
Despite facing obstacles, such as being thrown out of doctor's offices and having her birth control supplies being held by disapproving postmasters,
Dowding persisted in her feminist mission.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dowding, Vivian
1892 births
1987 deaths
People from Kamloops
20th-century Canadian women
Canadian women activists