YWCA to Deploy Women Officers to Combat 'White Slave' Trade
Tacoma women's organizations move to protect young women arriving at the city's depots and docks from human traffickers.
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No selection has yet been made by the Y.W.C.A. for the woman officer who is to be employed by the city this summer to see that the 'white slave' trade is not carried on in Tacoma. The association has been in correspondence with the national headquarters with a view to securing some woman who is trained in this work and an announcement will be made as soon as the matter is decided. In addition to this officer, paid by the city, the association will have two other travelers' aid agents to look after the Tacoma Eastern and Interurban depots and Flyer dock so that girls coming to the city as strangers will be given adequate protection from any sharpers who may be bent on mischief. These additional workers will be supported by contributions from the various woman's organizations of the city.
“Girls coming to the city as strangers will be given adequate protection from any sharpers who may be bent on mischief.”
In 1909, civic leaders framed the 'white slave trade' as an urgent moral crisis to justify increased surveillance of women's mobility. Today, similar concerns regarding human trafficking in Pacific Northwest transit hubs continue to prompt collaborations between local government and non-profit advocacy groups.
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