Description
In late nineteenth century England, fears over white slavery had gripped the nation. A term used to refer to the forced prostitution of women, the concept of white slavery provided an avenue for moral reformers to speak about gender based violence and sexual abuse. However, as English campaigners began to discuss the topic, the figure of an ‘ideal’ victim began to form at its centre. This paper argues that the ideal victim has been defined in British anti-trafficking law to enforce gendered, racialised, and imperial borders. These elements are co-constructive and ultimately allow the state to pursue border securitisation in the name of victim protection. By examining the work of the Women Officers of the National Vigilance Association, a Victorian era moral reform group in Britain, this research examines the development of the ideal victim in anti-trafficking discourse and presents a genealogical study of how UK anti-trafficking policy has been used to reinforce international borders. Using a femonationalist lens, it is possible to see how victims were leveraged to advance nationalist agendas. Because British law against white slavery set the world stage for today’s laws against human trafficking, excavating this history reveals a genealogy of contemporary anti-trafficking law enmeshed with nationalist border enforcement.
