Venereal Diseases / Sexually Transmitted Diseases

Venereal diseases, aka sexually transmitted diseases, were a common source of mortality for women during the eighteenth century, and for enslaved women, the likelihood of contracting such an illness was quite high. Symptoms included groin swellings, unusual or unhealthy discharges, warts, and urinary tract infections. The contraction of these diseases typically occurred as a result of sexual encounters, indicating that female slaves were often raped and violated against their will; in turn, these abuses contributed to severe discomfort and pain for women aboard slave ships, sometimes resulting in their deaths at sea.

Occasionally, women also faced the difficulties of the Middle Passage while pregnant, sometimes to the extent of giving birth aboard the ship. One such documented individual born on the Middle Passage was the author Charles Ignatius Sancho, who was born around 1729 and eventually gained financial independence and freedom from slavery. One can only imagine how giving birth—which is certainly a stressful event under ideal circumstances—may have been even more traumatic and intense in the cramped, damp, hot confinements of the hold, rocking of the ship, and lack of medical supplies and caring support.