6800 B.C.
The world’s first city-state emerges in Mesopotamia. Land ownership and the early stages of technology bring war—in which enemies are captured and forced to work: slavery.
What is Human and Child Trafficking?
Human and child trafficking refers to the acts associated with recruiting, harboring, transporting, providing, or obtaining a person for the purposes of forced labor or for personal gain. This brutal crime can take in many forms, but the common trend among them is a person, or group of people, being held against their will and forced to either work or perform sexual acts for the benefit of their captor.
3 Key Elements in Human Trafficking
Brief History of Human and Child Trafficking
Human and child trafficking by any means is NOT a new problem. Its existence could be traced back to the olden days, all throughout medieval times, during the white slave trade in the 1400 to the 1600s, and up until the present day. It is then one of the adverse effects of globalization, as this crime appears to be increasing due to technology and the ease of travel with lower transportation costs.
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575 B.C.
Temple art celebrates the capture of slaves in battle. Egyptians capture slaves by sending special expeditions up the Nile River.
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550 B.C.
The city-state of Athens uses as many as 30,000 slaves in its silver mines.
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120 A.D.
Roman military campaigns capture slaves by the thousands. Some estimate the population of Rome is more than half slave.
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500
Anglo-Saxons enslave the native Britons after invading England.
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1000
Slavery is a normal practice in England’s rural, agricultural economy, as destitute workers place themselves and their families in a form of debt bondage to landowners.
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1380
In the aftermath of the Black Plague, Europe’s slave trade thrives in response to a labor shortage. Slaves pour in from all over the continent, the Middle East, and North Africa.
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1444
Portuguese traders bring the first large cargo of slaves from West Africa to Europe by sea—establishing the Atlantic slave trade.
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1526 - 1867
The Atlantic Slave Trade. Spanish explorers bring the first African slaves to settlements in the United States. 12.5 million slaves had been shipped from Africa, and 10.7 million had arrived in the Americas. This event was likely the most costly in human life of all of long-distance global migrations.
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August 28, 1833
The Slavery Abolition Act. This act gave all slaves in the British Empire their freedom. The British government paid compensation to the slave owners.
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January 1, 1863
The Emancipation Proclamation. This executive order freed all slaves in the United States, except for those in border states and areas under control of the Union army.
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September 25, 1926
The Slavery Convention. This convention held in Switzerland was created under the League of Nations and serves as the foundation for the prevention and suppression of the slave trade. Concrete rules and articles were decided upon, and slavery and slave trade were banned.
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1956
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was first established by the United Nations General Assembly which states that "All human beings are born equal in dignity and rights and it prohibits slavery in all its forms.
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1958
India passes the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act which aims to persecute the third parties involved in trafficking.
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1995
The United Nations held the fourth World Conference to discuss the issue of trafficking of women. The act of trafficking was recognized as violence against women and global actions to be taken were developed.
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2000
The Palermo Protocol. This protocol was adopted by the United Nations to supplement the 2000 Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. At the same time, the United States passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act which offer protections for people illegally in the country who may have suffered from human trafficking.
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2003
The Philippines passes the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act (R.A. 9208), a penal law against human trafficking, sex tourism, sex slavery and child prostitution.
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2007
Ending Slavery: How We Free Today’s Slaves" by Kevin Bales was published serving as the initial plan for the global elimination of modern slavery.
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May 5, 2020
COVID-19: United Nations warns of increased risks to human trafficking victims. They show how lockdowns, travel restrictions, work limitations and cuts in resources are having a negative and often dangerous impact on the lives of these already vulnerable people – before, during and even after their ordeal.
Human and Child Trafficking on A Global Scale
