The International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women and Children is a 1921

multilateral treaty A multilateral treaty is a treaty to which two or more sovereign states are parties. Each party owes the same obligations to all other parties, except to the extent that they have stated reservation (law), reservations. Examples of multilateral tre ...

of the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

that addressed the problem of international trafficking of women and children.

Background

The growth of the social

reform movement A reform movement or reformism is a type of social movement that aims to bring a social or also a political system closer to the community's ideal. A reform movement is distinguished from more radical social movements such as revolutionary mo ...

during the late 19th century gave momentum to international efforts by

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

groups,

social hygiene The social hygiene movement was an attempt by Progressive era reformers to control venereal disease, regulate prostitution and vice, and disseminate sexual education through the use of scientific research methods and modern media techniques. Socia ...

activists, and others, to address trafficking in women and children and its role in prostitution and labour exploitation. Previous international conventions had been ratified by 34 countries in 1901 and 1904, and 1910 as " Convention for Suppression of White Slave Trade". The

, formed in 1919, quickly became the organization coordinating international efforts to study and attempt to end the practice. The work of the League in this area is considered to be one of its successes while overall it was a failure due to its inability to prevent war. The work of the League in this area was a central part of

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's 1928 novel

Decline and Fall ''Decline and Fall'' is a novel by the English author Evelyn Waugh, first published in 1928. It was Waugh's first published novel; an earlier attempt, titled '' The Temple at Thatch'', was destroyed by Waugh while still in manuscript form. '' ...

League of Nations

When it was established, the

at first did not include women's rights groups, who protested their exclusion and canvassed politicians for support. Ultimately, United States President

Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...

and France's Prime Minister

Georges Clemenceau Georges Benjamin Clemenceau (, also , ; 28 September 1841 – 24 November 1929) was a French statesman who served as Prime Minister of France from 1906 to 1909 and again from 1917 until 1920. A key figure of the Independent Radicals, he was a ...

supported the participation of

groups, who they argued were best suited to give a voice to women's issues. The League held the

International Conference on White Slave Traffic International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * International (Kevin Michael album), ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * International (New Order album), ' ...

in 1921, and agreed on the ''1921 International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women and Children'' on 30 September 1921. In 1933, it passed the ''

International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women of Full Age International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations". International may also refer to: Music Albums * International (Kevin Michael album), ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011 * International (New Order album), ' ...

''.

Key contents

The 1921 Convention ensure that protection from trafficking and sexual exploitation on the international level. The Article 6 states that "The High Contracting Parties agree, in case they have not already taken licensing and supervision of employment agencies and offices, to prescribe such regulations as are required to ensure the protection of women and children seeking employment in another country." and the Article 7 to "undertake in connection with immigration and emigration adopt such administrative and legislative measures as are required to check the traffic in women and children. In particular, they undertake to make such regulations as are required for the protection of women and children travelling on emigrant ships, not only at the points of departure and arrival, but also during the journey and to arrange for the exhibition, in railway stations and imports of notices warning women and children of the traffic and indicating the places where they can obtain accommodation and assistance."

Impact

The 1921 Convention set new goals for international efforts to stem human trafficking, primarily by giving the anti-trafficking movement further official recognition, as well as a bureaucratic apparatus to research and fight the problem. The Advisory Committee on the Traffic of Women and Children was a permanent advisory committee of the League. Its members were nine countries, and several

non-governmental organizations A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

. An important development was the implementation of a system of annual reports of member countries. Member countries formed their own centralized offices to track and report on trafficking of women and children. The advisory committee also worked to expand its research and intervention program beyond the United States and Europe. In 1929, a need to expand into the Near East (Asia Minor), the Middle East, and Asia were acknowledged. An international conference of central authorities in Asia was planned for 1937, but no further action was taken during the late 1930s.

Reservations

To this 1921 Convention, some nations declare reservations; inter alia, Australia,

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, Japan, Spain and

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reserve the application to the colonies,

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and mandated territories;

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, Japan and

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

reserve the Article 5 on limitation of age under 21 years old.

Subsequent international law

The League of Nations disbanded with

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and was succeeded by the United Nations. The 1921 Convention thereby was replaced by the ''1947 Protocol to amend the 1921 Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women and Children'', legislation tabled by the

United Nations Secretary General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary-ge ...

on 12 November 1947. The 1947 Protocol was ultimately ratified by 46 countries. This Protocol was superseded by the ''

Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others The Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others was approved by the United Nations General Assembly on 2 December 1949, and entered into force on 25 July 1951. The preamble states: ...

'' (1949) whose Preamble recalls the 1921 Convention together with "1910 Convention for Suppression of White Slave Traffic", and "1933 Convention on the Suppression of Traffic of Women of Full Age", again tabled by the United Nations Secretary-General.

References

External links