This article examines debates about the bodies and souls of women prostitutes in Mexico City that confronted the revolutionary Mexican government with the Catholic Church in the 1920s. We analyze the philanthropic activities of women’s organizations such as the Damas Católicas through the Ejército de Defensa de la Mujer and the ways in which they engaged in political roles at a time of fierce political struggle between the Catholic Church and the Mexican government. For both the government and Catholic women, it was deemed necessary to isolate and seclude the prostitutes’ bodies to cure them of venereal diseases and rehabilite them morally. While the government interned them at Hospital Morelos, Catholic women established a private assistance network, as well as so-called casas de regeneración , where former prostitutes had to work to sustain themselves while repenting for their sins and receiving the sacraments. By exploring the tension-filled interaction about women prostitutes between the Mexican government and the Catholic Church, we seek to contribute to the understanding of sexuality and prostitution in Mexico City in the 1920s.

México posee una legislación estricta en materia de trata de personas, pero tal legislación tiene poca utilidad si las víctimas no denuncian a sus explotadores. Este artículo, fundamentado en una metodología cualitativa que incluye la realización de entrevistas en profundidad a 47 víctimas de trata con fines de explotación sexual, parte de la siguiente pregunta de investigación: ¿por qué las víctimas extranjeras de este tipo específico de trata que se encuentran en México no denuncian a las personas que las explotan? Concluimos que la corrupción es el factor que inhibe las denuncias y favorece el crecimiento de la industria de la trata de personas con fines de explotación sexual en México. Mexico has strict legislation on human trafficking; however, this legislation is of little use if victims do not denounce their exploiters. Engaging a qualitative methodology that includes in-depth interviews with forty-seven victims of human trafficking, this article proceeds from the following research question: Why do foreign victims of sexual exploitation in Mexico not blow the whistle on the people who exploit them? Evidence suggests that corruption inhibits criminal complaints and favors growth of the human trafficking industry in Mexico.