It’s impossible to whitewash this part of Stopes’ story: these beliefs were a central part of her identity. But while we might not agree with why she wanted to deter some women from having children, we can recognise how transformative it was for so many women – of all backgrounds – to suddenly have access to information about birth control.

In 1921, Stopes and Roe opened the first birth control centre in the British empire, the Mothers’ Clinic in north London. Over the next two decades, she would expand her network of family planning clinics, opening branches in Leeds, Aberdeen, Belfast, Cardiff and Swansea. Run by midwives and visiting doctors, these clinics offered birth control advice and contraceptives to all married women seeking knowledge about reproductive health.

The most popular form of contraception offered at the London clinic was a cervical cap designed by Stopes, which perfectly encapsulates the contradictory sides of her story. It was marketed as the “Racial” cap, referencing her belief in racial purity – yet it helped a great many women take control of their bodies for the first time.

Stopes’ story is a complex one, and we should resist the urge to valorise her as a hero or dismiss her contributions entirely. Few people are entirely admirable or entirely despicable, and some of the most influential feminists of the last two centuries held views that many women would find deeply problematic in 2018. If we are to look back at their achievements, we must also be prepared to reckon with their flaws – and we can abhor Stopes’ eugenicist beliefs while appreciating the difference she made to thousands of women’s lives.

And today, the NGO that evolved from Stopes’ first clinic – Marie Stopes International – provides contraception and safe abortion services to women in more than 30 countries worldwide. That, at least, is worth celebrating.

Stylist’s Visible Women campaign is dedicated to raising awareness of women who’ve made a difference. See more from Visible Women here.

How Marie Stopes revolutionised British women’s sex lives