Argentina: Jewish White Slavery

Between 1875 and 1936, Buenos Aires was a major prostitution hub. Economically desperate or restricted by inflexible Jewish marriage laws, Jewish women arriving to Argentina from Europe conceded to working in legally sanctioned brothels founded by Jewish pimps with capital. In 1910 the First Jewish International Conference on White Slavery released a report stating Buenos Aires had 42 legal brothels, 39 of which were owned by Jews. Although Jewish women made up just a third of legal prostitutes, they were disproportionately visible in a Catholic society, and moral reformers could easily obtain their nationality. In 1930, two Jewish women spoke out publicly about their experience of coercive prostitution. These revelations led to mass arresting of pimps and a ban on brothels in Buenos Aires in 1935.