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POLISH STRUGGLE WITH WHITE SLAVE TRADE OF WOMEN AND CHILDREN AT THE TURN OF THE 19TH AND 20TH CENTURIES: SELECTED POLITICAL, LEGAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES
The women and children trade, at first called the white slave trade, constituted for both Poland and Polish people a hazard to not only public safety but also to each person’s safety. Poland after regaining independence fought against this phenomenon not only on its own territory but also in the international relations, aspiring to the protection of Polish people against this crime. It should be emphasized that in period of the partitions of Poland the crime was used on the Polish territory by the partitioners to deprive Polish people of their national identity, to oppress and enslave them. Therefore, it can be assumed that this crime with reference to Polish people at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries was used by the partitioner policy, especially on the territory of the Russian annexation and, because of that it gained a political nature — publications of Polish scientists, politicians and journalists of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries demonstrate this.