ABSTRACT
Protective action at the international level has focused on the economic sphere, in which the protectionist objective is achieved by totally excluding women from two categories of employment: night work and mining. The original Convention Concerning Night Work of Women Employed in Industry was drafted in 1919 by the General Conference of the International Labour Organisation, and was revised and modified in 1934 and 1948. The earliest International effort with regard to corrective legal action deals with what is known as "the world's oldest profession." Beginning with an agreement in 1904, and extended through conventions in 1910, 1921, 1933, and 1947, the world community has attempted to regulate prostitution at an international level through prohibitions on the transporting of women and children for immoral purposes. Women in their roles as wives and mothers are accorded a special social and cultural status and as such they are "generally recognized" to require special protection.
