Movement of women: Trafficking in the interwar era

SynopsisThis article fills a gap in the histories describing the struggle to end trafficking and prostitution. The two main focal points of previous research are most often the movements against state regulated prostitution dated to the late 19th century and the fight against so called “white slavery”, on the one hand, and the modern trafficking and prostitution that emerged due to the concentration of large troops of armed forces during the Vietnam War in the 1960s, on the other hand. The period in between is seldom recognised as a time of great women's/feminist activity on the issue of prostitution and traffic in women.The aim of the article is to show how the transition of the issue of prostitution developed from being mainly of national (even nationalistic) interest to becoming a matter of international concern. A shift in terminology opened for an internationalisation of the fight against trafficking.