A handful of them had been brought there against their will. After several trials, fifteen or so shady individuals were sentenced, but those who were truly responsible for the abuse were members of the police.
The same effects were invariably seen wherever this system was implemented. In en was Brussel het toneel van de eerste blanke-slavinnenzaak met internationale weerklank: een vijftigtal Belgische en buitenlandse — vooral Engelse — minderjarige meisjes werkten sinds in enkele van de vergunde bordelen van de stad. Een handvol van die meisjes werd met valse beloften naar Brussel gelokt.
Na verschillende rechtszaken werden een vijftiental leden van de onderwereld veroordeeld, maar degenen die echt verantwoordelijk waren voor de misbruiken waren politieagenten. Daaruit kan evenwel niet worden afgeleid dat de Brusselse politie uitzonderlijk corrupt was: in feite werden de politieagenten door de reglementering van de prostitutie in een situatie geplaatst waarin ze de belangen van de bordeelhouders beschermden.
Overal waar dat systeem werd ingevoerd, waren de gevolgen onveranderlijk dezelfde. A trial regarding trafficking in women had never had so much international attention. When governments tackled the problem in , it was still referred to by some as Belgian Traffic and, fifty years later, when the experts from the League of Nations presented their historical report on the state of trafficking in women throughout the world, they referred to the events in Brussels to mark the beginning of their fight.
A police commissioner was dismissed. The mayor of Brussels was forced to resign. We cannot imagine the upheaval which took place. It is especially interesting to note what Isidore Maus remembers first of all, i. His memory was good and his selection was judicious: as we shall see now, the true scandal indeed lay in the action of the authorities much more than in the behaviour of those who were sentenced. Here, I shall examine in particular the point of view of the police officers.
