White slavery
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White slavery is a 19th century term for a form of slavery involving the sexual abuse of women held as captives and forced into prostitution.
Although this form of abuse did occur in reality (and still does: see the article sexual slavery for this topic), the name "white slavery" is usually used to refer to the original use of the term in a moral panic in late 19th century and early 20th century United States, where there was a perception that this form of abuse was a danger to every young woman. In this moral panic, the selected scapegoats were Chinese immigrants, who were stereotyped and demonized as white slavers (eg: Thoroughly Modern Millie).
Such accusations have also been frequently applied against Jewish men and appear in a great deal of anti-Semitic propaganda.
White slavery did not originally refer to race; in modern usage, however, it often refers to the sexual slavery of white women by non-white men.
The term white slavery is also used in revisionist and white supremacy literature to refer to any slavery of people with light skin.
External links
- "White Slavery" As Metaphor: Anatomy of a Moral Panic (http://www.walnet.org/csis/papers/irwin-wslavery.html)
- Loose Women or Lost Women? The re-emergence of the myth of 'white slavery' in contemporary discourses of 'trafficking in women' (http://www.walnet.org/csis/papers/doezema-loose.html)
- Pressured by U.S., Israel Battles a Burgeoning White Slave Trade (http://www.forward.com/issues/2002/02.06.28/news10.html)