International police co-operation and the associations for the fight against white slavery.

Abstract

White Slavery occupied the imagination of the European and American middle‐class for more than a generation. From the 1880s onwards philanthropists organised a campaign to suppress the trafficking of girls and young women. The governments and the police could not ignore this campaign. International agreements were signed in 1904 and 1910 and specialised branches of police were set up in major European cities. Intensified surveillance and researches by the police demonstrated that a White Slave Trade as described in the media and by philanthropic organisations hardly existed. White Slave Trade was more a vehicle for philanthropists to gain influence on governments as far as moral issues were concerned. For the police and the governments the fight against White Slavery brought a lot of benefits as well: they presented themselves as moral institutions, upholding the needs of the public. Referring back to their superiors, the police could gain more autonomy and importance.