This article appeared in the Bulletin of the «Union of Romandy Women» in reaction to the announcement of an ordinance issued by the authorities of the Canton of Vaud providing for the «administrative detention of elements that pose a threat to society».

The authorities were also able to implement this ordinance, since during World War II they were granted unlimited emergency powers.

 

Author

The author of the article, Émilie Gourd (1879-1946), of Geneva, was a pioneer in the women’s movement in Switzerland in the early 20th century. In this article she criticizes the potentially anti-democratic consequences that could ensue from the arbitrary nature of the grounds on which such a legal instrument is based. More specifically, she points out that the primary targets of the ordinance are women: prostitutes. As also advocated by the ‘abolitionist movement’ (for the abolition of prostitution), Gourd sees prostitution as a system for the exploitation of women by men. The use of compulsory measures against prostitutes, she argues, incriminates only women, while leaving untouched those who bear the main responsibility for this ‘pitiful business’: the clients.

 

Research questions

This source makes it possible, for example, to get an idea of the public debate surrounding the subject of administrative detentions in the Canton of Vaud around the time of the issuance of the ordinance on 24 October 1939. Consideration can also be given to the political and social issues the ordinance addresses. In addition, the new statute raises more general questions relating to the gender issue in the use of administrative detention.

 

Use of sources

The ordinance of 24 October 1939 led to a broad debate in the Canton of Vaud on the subject of administrative detention and the legal means used to combat prostitution. This source represents only one specific point of view that came to expression in that debate. It must be considered in the context of the broader public discussion (in newspapers, at the political level, in associations and trade organisations) – both on the specific question of the Canton of Vaud ordinance on «administrative detention of elements that pose a threat to society» and more generally on the question of prostitution. It is also crucial to recall the prevailing mood in Switzerland at the time when the article appeared, a period marked by unlimited emergency powers and the general mobilisation of 1939.

 

C. Gumy/Translation

 

Source

Gourd, Émilie: Un arrêté dangereux, in: Le Bulletin féminin, 18 November 1939, pages unnumbered.

Signature: Archives cantonales vaudoises (ACV): S132/771.