Fighting the Traffic in Young Girls; Or, War on the White Slave Trade
History
Fighting the Traffic in Young Girls; Or, War on the White Slave Trade
Prostitution
That secrecy is maintained as to who the girls are and where they are
from is evidenced by one of the many letters I have received, of which
the following is a copy:
Chicago, Ill., July 13, 1908.
Mr. Clifford G. Roe,
Dear Sir:--Did you receive a letter from my mother,
Mrs. Effie ----, from Eloise, Mich. If so, I wish you
would come and see me so I can tell you everything. I
have not been out of the house for three months. I
have not got any clothes to wear on the street
because I owe a debt. I wish you could come and see
me and I can tell you everything then. I am a White
Slave for sure. Please excuse pencil, I had to write
this and sneak this out. Please see to this at once
and help me and oblige,
Viola ----.
With people passing back and forth on the street and in and out of the
house every day it seems astonishing that girls can be kept as slaves.
However, the above appeal for help tells the story, not alone of the
writer, but of the thousands of girls whose lives are being crushed, the
minds depraved, and the bodies diseased by outrageous bondage. It was
discovered that Viola had been given a fictitious name, all avenues of
communication with the outside world were cut off, and she had lived in
constant fear of being beaten if she let anyone know who she was. At
last through a ruse she succeeded in getting letters to her mother and
myself, which brought about her rescue and the return of the girl to her
mother, who is an invalid in Wayne County Hospital at Eloise, Michigan.
The owners of the resort where she was held were brought before the bar
of justice and the judge in sentencing them said: "The levee resort
keepers are murdering the souls of girls and women by binding them with
ropes of illegal debt; this practice must be wiped out."
The next question which confronts us is what shall we do with the girls
after they are liberated from the houses? Some have parents, some are
ashamed to go back home, while others are diseased. Certainly it seems a
pity to turn them out and let them battle against the prejudice of a
"past life." Homes and institutions for girls are often filled or the
doors are barred against fallen women. The solution of the problem is a
home for white slaves in every large city in the country.
Such a home should be well equipped with a hospital to cure disease
contracted in disreputable houses, and then there should be schools in
the institute for training the girls for useful lives, where sewing,
cooking, music, art, and other things are taught. In this way the girls
would be fitted to earn honest and wholesome livelihoods when they go
out to face the world.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account