§ Viscountess ASTORasked the Prime Minister whether a British representative has yet been appointed to the forth-coming conference under the auspices of the League of Nations in Geneva on 30th June to deal with the traffic in women and children; whether he will consider the advisability of appointing a woman as technical adviser; and whether he can give an indication of the powers which will be conferred upon the British delegates and of the policy which they will support?
§ Mr. SHORTTYes, as the Conference is an official one, the British Government will be represented by an official of the Home Office, which is the Department concerned with the subject. It has not been considered necessary to appoint a woman as technical adviser, as two representatives of the National Vigilance Association (one of whom is a woman) have been invited to attend the Conference in view of the special knowledge they have obtained of this question in its international aspect, and the British representative will have the advantage of consultation with them. In reply to the last part of the question, the object of2094W the Conference, as stated in the Resolution adopted by the Assembly of the League, is to co-ordinate the reports received from the Governments on the subject of the action they have taken or are proposing to take with regard to this question, and to endeavour to secure a common understanding between the Governments with a view to future united action. The British representative will be instructed to promote this policy, but he will not, of course, be able to commit the Government to any new course of action without its previous approval.