Trafficking, Travel, and Illicit Migration in Early Twentieth-Century France and the Americas

FAIN: FT-264815-19

Elisa Camiscioli
SUNY Research Foundation, Binghamton (Binghamton, NY 13902-4400)

Research and writing leading to publication of a book on the history of trafficking between France and the Americas in the early 20^th century.

This project investigates early 20th-century debates on trafficking through the lens of migration history, and how women’s mobility raised key questions about the distinction between free movement and unauthorized migrations. The “traffic in women” generated copious documentation on such themes as border policing, passport controls, immigration law, deportation, and repatriation. In addition, letters written by ostensibly trafficked women, their families, and members of criminal networks reveal the lived experience of these migrations. Focusing primarily on the transatlantic route between France and the Americas, the project situates both the discourse and experience of trafficking within a longer history of free and unfree labor, sex work, mobility, and globalization.

Associated Products

“Trafficking Histories: Women’s Migration and Sexual Labor in the Early Twentieth Century” (Article)
Title: “Trafficking Histories: Women’s Migration and Sexual Labor in the Early Twentieth Century”
Author: Elisa Camiscioli
Abstract: This article takes a historical approach to what we now call sex trafficking, exploring its roots in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century debates on “white slavery” and “the traffic in women”. Using digitized genealogical records along with French consular records from the United States, Argentina, and Uruguay — three important receiver nations of immigrants at this time — it examines how alleged cases of trafficking might be reframed as gendered migration histories. In particular, it shows how discussions surrounding the deportation and repatriation of foreign women involved in prostitution unearthed a number of enduring questions about sex work and trafficking: How do we distinguish between forced and free migrations? Is victimhood a necessary condition for receiving social assistance? Can humanitarian interventions, in the name of rescue and rehabilitation, enable restrictive or even punitive measures? In sum, a critical reading of historical documents points to women’s lives as laborers and migrants more than as trafficking victims.
Year: 2019
Access Model: Open access
Publisher: Deportate, esuli, profughe. Rivista telematica di studi sulla memoria femminile

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