Trafficking in women in the late 19th – early 20th century (on the example of Sub-Russian Ukraine)

Abstract

The article considers trafficking in women in the late nineteenth – early twentieth century as a problem of international scale. The author identifies the Russian Empire and Sub-Russian Ukraine in particular as one of the world's supply centers, the so-called “living goods”, mainly to Turkey and the Americas (the USA, Argentina, Brazil). The existence of an extensive system for organizing the recruitment of girls, in particular the institute of agents engaged in the search for “white slaves” are analyzed, the examples of methods they used (from press announcements and offers of high-paying jobs to fictitious marriages with fake passports) are given, the passive role of the state in preventing human trafficking is demonstrated (the term of punishment of agents was minimal, cases were often closed in the absence of witnesses, and police received bribes from the owners of brothels). The main factors causing the spread of trafficking in women in Sub-Russian Ukraine were material. Against the background of modernization and urbanization, further development of capitalist relations, expansion of the entertainment industry, officially legalized prostitution, the institution of family and marriage is being transformed, which also affected the growth of international trafficking in women in the early twentieth century. The world community began an active fight against trafficking in women in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, holding international congresses in London and Frankfurt am Main. However, the active fight against human trafficking was hampered by imperfect legislation in most countries and sometimes by the lack of laws under which organizers of trafficking in women could be prosecuted. The active work of the Russian Society for the Protection of Women in the early twentieth century, in particular its Odessa branch, led to the development and implementation of the relevant law and the holding of the All-Russian Congress in the fight against trafficking in women.