American GIs were warned to stay away from women in Northern Ireland during World War II, new research shows.
Authorities in Washington even urged troops to keep out of certain pubs in Belfast and Derry amid fears of later contracting diseases. The details of tight vetting and bar-room bans have emerged in a University of Ulster study.
Checks were carried out to make sure any potential brides were suitable for marriage to troops based in the North during the war, according to researcher Ms Leanne McCormick.
"Girls invited to events such as dances were vetted," she said. "The authorities did not want troops mixing with women who were deemed unsuitable or whose morals were in question."
At one stage GIs accounted for one-fifth of the North's population, with thousands attending regular weekend dances in search of love.
Records held in Washington reveal that military chiefs feared their men keeping company with women deemed promiscuous. "The concern was always about the health of the troops which led to women being controlled and regulated.
"Troops were warned of the dangers of venereal disease."
The researcher will present her report, "One Yank and They're Off", during a three-day conference at the University's Magee campus in Derry, starting tomorrow.
She discovered that women's behaviour was subjected to intense scrutiny.
If women complained they had been sexually assaulted, prosecutions were dropped if there was any suspicion they were involved in prostitution, the study found.
The investigations also discovered tough regimes for working-class women whose morals were questioned or who became pregnant outside of marriage. They were regularly put in homes run by church groups.
"Although legislation covering issues like venereal disease was, in theory, gender neutral, in practice it was targeted mostly at women. Men who contracted the disease had to reveal any relationship thought to be responsible. In that way, women were in effect blamed for the spread of the disease."