Slave Tortures: The Mask, Scold's Bridle, or Brank

Scold's Bridle: Medieval Punishment for Gossiping and Quarrelsome Women

Scold's Bridle Mask which partially covers face | Science Museum Group Collection

This #InternationalWomensDay we're highlighting the horrific treatment women have had to go through, and continue to go through, to have their voices heard. This video, put together by The Acorns Project and the brilliant Dr Catherine Gill, looks at a particularly grim item from our collection, the Scold's Bridle, a barbaric device used to literally silence 'unruly' women. If only the women subjected to this could know that centuries later a woman would be writing this and posting a female lectu