A connector device is provided with a box-shaped casing (50), a female housing (30) mounted into the casing (50) and displaceable between an initial position and an end position, and a slide (70) that is in the form of a frame having an operating portion (72) and mounted in the casing (50) for movement between a retreat position where a clearance exists between the operating portion (72) and the casing (50) and an advance position that narrows or eliminates the clearance. Before an operation of connecting both male and female housings (10, 30) is started, a protector (90) is inserted into a fitting space (91) between the operating portion (72) of the slide (70) and the casing (50). The slide (70) is held at the retreat position and the female housing (30) is held at the initial position by the protector (90).