Description
Collective and alternative spaces may disrupt normative definitions of sex and gender, but what happens when civil society strives to reinforce dominant narratives? This paper examines early twentieth century anti-trafficking organisations to understand how ‘white slavery’ discourse offered a platform to reify contested understandings of race, gender, and sex in Edwardian England. By examining the work of the National Vigilance Association (NVA), it is possible to trace how their mandate to prevent the exploitation of young women harmonised with nationalist movements seeking to establish England as the moral centre of imperial rule. Within the NVA’s organisation, a complicated reimagining of gendered and class roles was taking shape as more middle-class English women stepped into the officer’s role, austensibly protecting foreign and working-class women from sexual exploitation. Yet this advancement relied on the assumed victimization and helplessness of racialised and/or working class women. Examining this relational power dynamic within the NVA helps to articulate how anti-trafficking rhetoric operated on an international level to establish England as a morally justified colonial ruler. This work carries significant implications for our understanding of the contemporary anti-trafficking sector which often relies on similar saviour-like narratives of intervention.
