Please find a poster, abstract, and registration link below. Abstract: Jewish women who sold sex have been marginalized in Jewish historiography. Endowed with little or no agency, they have been primarily presented as victims of international trafficking between Eastern Europe and Argentina.
Yet, they did not live on the margins of Eastern European Jewish society. If we remove the morally judgmental label of prostitutes, we discern that these women functioned in various contexts beyond the sex world β as migrants, workers, and family relatives.
Once we recognize them as historical actors, we can pose and answer questions: Why did some Jewish women enter prostitution? What were their prospects after leaving this occupation? What did their families think about them selling sex? Drawing on the latest feminist research on trafficking and sex work, this lecture challenges our understanding of Eastern European Jewish women who sold sex in various countries between and Furthermore, it demonstrates that for some women, entering the trafficking system was part of a larger migratory project; for others, soliciting abroad was a family economic strategy.
She works in the fields of migration studies, gender and women history, and Jewish studies, specializing in Eastern European Jewish history. Register here. We look forward to seeing you there!
