Havelock Ellis 
The Task of Social Hygiene 

“The Task of Social Hygiene” is a 1912 work by American writer Havelock Ellis. Social hygiene refers to the protection and improvement of the family as a social institution, specifically through the elimination of sexually transmitted diseases and prostitution. The idea gained popularity during the late 19th and early 20th century centres as a movement which concentrated on regulating vice and disseminating sexual education through the media and using scientific methods. Within this volume, Ellis explores such subjects as sexual hygiene, the woman’s suffrage movement, the falling birth-rate in England, love, eugenics, religion, and more. Contents include: “The Changing Status of Women”, “The New Aspect of the Woman’s Movement”, “The Emancipation of Women in Relation to Romantic Love”, “The Significance of a Falling Birth-Rate”, “Eugenics and Love”, “Religion and the Child”, “The Problem of Sexual Hygiene”, etc. Henry Havelock Ellis (1859–1939) was an English physician, writer, eugenicist and social reformer who studied human sexuality. Ellis was also an early researcher into the effects of psychedelics and wrote one of the first reports on a mescaline experience in 1896. Other notable works by this author include: “A Study of British Genius” (1904) and “Psychology of Sex” (1933). Read & Co. History is republishing this classic work now in a new edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.