The Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is an international temperance organization that was founded in Hillsboro, Ohio on December 23, 1873. Dedicated to the cause of temperance (total abstinence from alcohol and drugs) the WCTU believe that many social ills were caused by, and were a consequence of, alcohol. The organization also campaigned for suffrage, better labour conditions, against sex work, for public health and sanitation and for international peace. At its peak in the 1920s the WCTU was active in 40 countries through the World's Woman's Christian Temperance Union and had more than 766,000 members. The WCTUS still operates today with members in the United States and in 36 other countries.