WHA Annual Meeting: Korea 2026

In 2021, IOM estimated 6.3 million people were sex trafficked globally. Since Covid-19 the number of sex trafficking victims has increased, exacerbated by economic, technological, and political transformations, After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, thousands of Ukrainian women fleeing westward ended up trafficked as far east as Shanghai— tragically reflecting the fates of the 22% of White Russian emigre women a hundred years ago.

This paper seeks to analyze race and gender relations through the sex industry in the multi-ethnic city of Shanghai during the 1930s. I seek to broadly summarize the ethnic/ racial, gender, and class dynamics of the sex industry— from Sikh security guards to Japanese investors. However, I will focus on two triangular relationships: 1.) Foreign outsiders, Foreign prostitutes (specifically White Russian and Japanese), and Chinese clients. 2.) Chinese outsiders, Chinese prostitutes, and Foreign clients. I will assess reactions through the lens of imperialism and nationalism respectively, supported by administrative policies and first hand sources. I will conclude this paper by mapping these trends and sentiments against the modern sex trade in Shanghai.

This paper perfectly fits the 2025 WHA conference’s theme of examining modern globalization from a perspective critical of its interconnectivity through Asian voices. The sex trade is one of the most intimate lenses to examine dividing prejudices— from systematic racism to fetishization— due to its controversialness. This is the same reason there has been little academic engagement until the past three decades— especially from non-Eurocentric perspectives.