When did the act of human trafficking begin?
Human Trafficking is the illegal movement of people, typically for the purposes of forced labor or commercial sexual exploitation. But when did it start? There is still a debate on exactly when human trafficking began. The two sides of when Human Trafficking began are back in the 1400s and the other one is of more recent years during the “white slavery.”
During the European Slave Trade Africans were captured and were sent to places in Europe, North America, and South America and forced to labor with no pay at all. As one can see, they are the same but the only difference between human trafficking and the European Slave Trade is that the human trafficking is against the law while the Slave Trade was completely legal. According to the Rutgers University Campus Coalition Against Trafficking, “the 1400s marked the start of European slave trading in Africa with the Portuguese transporting people from Africa to Portugal and using them as slaves” (Young, 2011).
The slave trade would become extremely popular after 1492 due to the fact that Christopher Columbus had just discovered the New World. Then other countries wanted to discover new land so more and more European powers went and discovered this vast land with an abundant amount of raw material. These raw materials had to be grown and picked and who better to do it is those of the slave trade. Like human trafficking of today not a majority of the slave trade was happening in the area of present day United States of America. It was happening in Central and Southern America because the work was a lot tougher in those parts of the land. The harder the work was the shorter the life expectancy of the slave and this would lead to more and more slaves being trafficked.
Freedom Form Fear magazine has a different take on this start of human trafficking. They believed that while slaves did go through physical and sexual orientation starting in the 1400s, the history of human trafficking dates back a lot shorter. The focus of human trafficking is believed to start during the era of “white slavery” around the early 1800 to early 1900s. White slavery was the white woman and girls were being trafficked for prostitution. When this came about it was all about protecting these white woman and girls from becoming victims. There was nothing about criminalizing the efforts of trafficking these women though until 1910. According to Kangaspunta, “In 1910, 13 countries signed the International Convention for the Suppression of the White Slave Trade” (2008). This would criminalize the act of trading these white woman and girls.
The International Convention for the Suppression of the White Slave Trade only covered white woman and girls. It was very gender specific on females and boys were not mention. The League of Nations would be the ones to step up and address this problem. In 1920, the League of Nations was an international organization started after a result of the first ever world war to be a world governing body for peace, and one of its first agendas would be to address the White Slavery issue. In 1921, 33 states would meet up in Geneva and sign the International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women and Children (Kangaspunta, 2008). This expanded the prosecuting of those who trafficked woman and children of both sexes not just girls. The League of Nations would fall apart as well as the International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women and Children, but the United Nations would replace it after World War II. The United Nations would turn out to be a lot more set in stone than the League of Nations as well as its agreements.
During the European Slave Trade Africans were captured and were sent to places in Europe, North America, and South America and forced to labor with no pay at all. As one can see, they are the same but the only difference between human trafficking and the European Slave Trade is that the human trafficking is against the law while the Slave Trade was completely legal. According to the Rutgers University Campus Coalition Against Trafficking, “the 1400s marked the start of European slave trading in Africa with the Portuguese transporting people from Africa to Portugal and using them as slaves” (Young, 2011).
The slave trade would become extremely popular after 1492 due to the fact that Christopher Columbus had just discovered the New World. Then other countries wanted to discover new land so more and more European powers went and discovered this vast land with an abundant amount of raw material. These raw materials had to be grown and picked and who better to do it is those of the slave trade. Like human trafficking of today not a majority of the slave trade was happening in the area of present day United States of America. It was happening in Central and Southern America because the work was a lot tougher in those parts of the land. The harder the work was the shorter the life expectancy of the slave and this would lead to more and more slaves being trafficked.
Freedom Form Fear magazine has a different take on this start of human trafficking. They believed that while slaves did go through physical and sexual orientation starting in the 1400s, the history of human trafficking dates back a lot shorter. The focus of human trafficking is believed to start during the era of “white slavery” around the early 1800 to early 1900s. White slavery was the white woman and girls were being trafficked for prostitution. When this came about it was all about protecting these white woman and girls from becoming victims. There was nothing about criminalizing the efforts of trafficking these women though until 1910. According to Kangaspunta, “In 1910, 13 countries signed the International Convention for the Suppression of the White Slave Trade” (2008). This would criminalize the act of trading these white woman and girls.
The International Convention for the Suppression of the White Slave Trade only covered white woman and girls. It was very gender specific on females and boys were not mention. The League of Nations would be the ones to step up and address this problem. In 1920, the League of Nations was an international organization started after a result of the first ever world war to be a world governing body for peace, and one of its first agendas would be to address the White Slavery issue. In 1921, 33 states would meet up in Geneva and sign the International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women and Children (Kangaspunta, 2008). This expanded the prosecuting of those who trafficked woman and children of both sexes not just girls. The League of Nations would fall apart as well as the International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women and Children, but the United Nations would replace it after World War II. The United Nations would turn out to be a lot more set in stone than the League of Nations as well as its agreements.
I believe it is naive not to consider the European Slave Trade as human trafficking because it was essentially that. There is only one true difference between the two and that is, like i mentioned in the background/history, legality. Just because it was legal does not make it any different. I actually never knew or ever herd about "white slavery." It came to me as a shock because when I think off human trafficking I see slavery then modern day. I essentially have a big gap in the background of human trafficking like i think most of us would. It also shocked me that boys were not included at the beginning and I wonder why at they were not.
References
Kangaspunta, K. (2008, October 1). A Short History of Trafficking in Persons. Freedom From Fear, 36-37.
Young, P. (2011, January 1). Timeline of Human Trafficking. Retrieved March 4, 2015, from http://www.eden.rutgers.edu/~yongpatr/425/final/timeline.htm
Kangaspunta, K. (2008, October 1). A Short History of Trafficking in Persons. Freedom From Fear, 36-37.
Young, P. (2011, January 1). Timeline of Human Trafficking. Retrieved March 4, 2015, from http://www.eden.rutgers.edu/~yongpatr/425/final/timeline.htm