Borders and sexualities. The League of Nation's visit to the Mexican boder in the 1920s.

Abstract

Between 1924 and 1926 representatives of the League of Nations traveled as undercover agents to 30 countries with the aim of proving the existence of an international network of trafficking in women and minors. In this article I will analyze the visit of one of these agents to two cities in northern Mexico in order to explore two arguments. First, the idea of trafficking this organization promoted excluded the experiences of local women and minors, who were not considered white, ignoring their possible or open exploitation, while also ignoring French or Anglo-Saxon women who were perceived as too old or experienced to be trafficked. Second, I argue that with this project the American Social Hygiene Association indirectly worked for the protection of U.S. men and women from the supposed dangers Mexico represented, while not accounting for the responsibility of U.S. citizens in the vices they sought to fight against.