View source for Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others

{{Infobox Treaty
|name                = Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others
|long_name           = 
|image               =Persontrafficconvention.png
|image_width     =300px
|caption             =States parties and signatories of the convention. States parties in dark blue. State signatories in light blue
|type                  =
|date_drafted     = 2 December 1949 (approval by the UN General Assembly)
|date_signed      =21 March 1950
|location_signed     = Lake Success, New York
|date_sealed         =
|date_effective      = 25 July 1951<ref name=ratifications/>
|condition_effective = Ratification by 2 states
|date_expiration     =
|signatories         = 25
|parties             = 82
|depositor           = [[Secretary-General of the United Nations|UN Secretary-General]]
|language            =
|languages           = 
|wikisource          =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''' is a resolution of the [[UN General Assembly]]. The preamble states:

<blockquote>''"Whereas [[prostitution]] and the accompanying evil of the [[Human trafficking|traffic in persons]] for the purpose of prostitution are incompatible with the dignity and worth of the human person and endanger the welfare of the individual, the family and the community"''</blockquote>

It was approved by the General Assembly on 2 December 1949<ref>General Assembly resolution 317(IV)</ref> and came into effect on 25 July 1951. As at December 2013, 82 states were party to the convention (see map). An additional 13 states had signed the convention but had not yet ratified it.<ref name=ratifications>[https://treaties.un.org/Pages/ViewDetails.aspx?src=IND&mtdsg_no=VII-11-a&chapter=7&clang=_en Signatories and ratifications status]</ref>

The Convention supersedes a number of earlier conventions that covered some aspects of [[forced prostitution]]. Signatories are charged with three obligations under the 1949 Convention: prohibition of trafficking, specific administrative and enforcement measures, and social measures aimed at trafficked persons. The 1949 Convention presents two shifts in perspective of the trafficking problem in that it views prostitutes as victims of the procurers, and in that it eschews the terms "white slave traffic" and "women," using for the first time race- and gender-neutral language.<ref name=entrepeneur>[http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/90192936_2.html ] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204041437/http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/90192936_2.html |date=February 4, 2009 }}</ref> To fall under the provisions of the 1949 Convention, the trafficking need not cross international lines.<ref name=entrepeneur/>

==Provisions==
The Convention<ref>[http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/ProfessionalInterest/trafficpersons.pdf Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others ]</ref> requires state parties to punish any person who "procures, entices or leads away, for purposes of prostitution, another person, even with the consent of that person", "exploits the prostitution of another person, even with the consent of that person" (Article 1), or runs a [[brothel]] or rents accommodations for prostitution purposes (Article 2). It also prescribes procedures for combating international traffic for the purpose of prostitution, including extradition of offenders.

Furthermore, state parties are required to abolish all regulations that subject prostitutes "to special registration or to the possession of a special document or to any exceptional requirements for supervision or notification" (Article 6). And also they are required to take the necessary measure for the supervision of [[employment agency|employment agencies]] in order to prevent persons seeking employment, in particular women and children, from being exposed to the danger of prostitution (Article 20).

A dispute between the parties relating to the interpretation or application of the Convention may, at the request of any one of the parties to the dispute, be referred to the [[International Court of Justice]] (Article 22).

==Status==
A number of countries who have ratified the Convention expressed reservations in relation to the referral of disputes to the ICJ, and some countries have not ratified the Convention at all because of their objection to the presence of the article.

One of the main reasons the Convention has not been ratified by many countries is because it also applies to voluntary prostitution,<ref name="Bantekas 2003 6">{{cite book |title= International Criminal Law 2/E |last= Bantekas |first= Ilias |author2=Susan Nash |year= 2003|publisher=Routledge |location= Cavendish |isbn= 1859417760 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=MyP4tSaMA_IC&vq=involuntary+prostitution&dq=%22involuntary+prostitution%22+definition&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0 |page=6}}</ref> because of the presence of the term "even with the consent of that person" in Article 1. For example, in countries such as [[Germany]],<ref name="economist-prostitution2004">{{cite web|url=http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_PTVTNVR|title=Prostitution: Sex is their business|date=2 September 2004|accessdate=15 December 2009|publisher=The Economist}} {{Subscription}}</ref> the [[Netherlands]],<ref name="economist-prostitution2004" /> [[New Zealand]],<ref name="Economist-prostitution-2008">{{cite web|url=http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=E1_TNVTGVRN|title=Policing prostitution: The oldest conundrum|publisher=The Economist|date=30 October 2008|accessdate=11 January 2010}} {{Subscription}}</ref> [[Greece]],<ref>[http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2002/18368.htm US Department of State Report - Greece]</ref> [[Turkey]] and other countries voluntary prostitution is legal and regulated as an occupation.

The [[Trafficking protocol]] (2000) to the [[United Nations]] [[Convention against Transnational Organized Crime]] has used a different definition of ''trafficking'' to that in the 1949 Convention,<ref>[http://www.antislavery.org/homepage/resources/Weissbrodt%20report%20final%20edition%202003.pdf Convention against Transnational Organized Crime]</ref> and has been ratified by many more countries.

The [[Centre for Human Rights]], specifically the secretariat of the Working Group on Slavery, in close co-operation with the [[Centre for Social Development and Humanitarian Affairs]] of the Department of International Economic and Social Affairs, actively monitors the Convention.

==See also==
*''[[1921 International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women and Children]]''
*[[Human trafficking]]
*[[Prostitution law]]
*[[Sexual slavery]]
*[[International Day for the Abolition of Slavery]]
*[[International Abolitionist Federation]]

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others Convention}}
[[Category:Child sexual abuse]]
[[Category:Prostitution]]
[[Category:United Nations treaties]]
[[Category:Treaties concluded in 1949]]
[[Category:Treaties entered into force in 1951]]
[[Category:Child labour treaties]]
[[Category:Human trafficking treaties]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan]]
[[Category:Treaties of the People's Socialist Republic of Albania]]
[[Category:Treaties of Algeria]]
[[Category:Treaties of Argentina]]
[[Category:Treaties of Azerbaijan]]
[[Category:Treaties of Bangladesh]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic]]
[[Category:Treaties of Belgium]]
[[Category:Treaties of Bolivia]]
[[Category:Treaties of Bosnia and Herzegovina]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Second Brazilian Republic]]
[[Category:Treaties of the People's Republic of Bulgaria]]
[[Category:Treaties of Burkina Faso]]
[[Category:Treaties of Cameroon]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Central African Republic]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Republic of the Congo]]
[[Category:Treaties of Ivory Coast]]
[[Category:Treaties of Croatia]]
[[Category:Treaties of Cuba]]
[[Category:Treaties of Cyprus]]
[[Category:Treaties of Czechoslovakia]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Czech Republic]]
[[Category:Treaties of Djibouti]]
[[Category:Treaties of Ecuador]]
[[Category:Treaties of the United Arab Republic]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Derg]]
[[Category:Treaties of Finland]]
[[Category:Treaties of France]]
[[Category:Treaties of Guatemala]]
[[Category:Treaties of Guinea]]
[[Category:Treaties of Haiti]]
[[Category:Treaties of Honduras]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Hungarian People's Republic]]
[[Category:Treaties of India]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Kingdom of Iraq]]
[[Category:Treaties of Israel]]
[[Category:Treaties of Italy]]
[[Category:Treaties of Japan]]
[[Category:Treaties of Jordan]]
[[Category:Treaties of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Treaties of Kuwait]]
[[Category:Treaties of Kyrgyzstan]]
[[Category:Treaties of Laos]]
[[Category:Treaties of Latvia]]
[[Category:Treaties of Lesotho]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Kingdom of Libya]]
[[Category:Treaties of Luxembourg]]
[[Category:Treaties of Malawi]]
[[Category:Treaties of Mali]]
[[Category:Treaties of Mauritania]]
[[Category:Treaties of Mexico]]
[[Category:Treaties of Montenegro]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Federated States of Micronesia]]
[[Category:Treaties of Morocco]]
[[Category:Treaties of Nepal]]
[[Category:Treaties of Niger]]
[[Category:Treaties of Norway]]
[[Category:Treaties of Pakistan]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Philippines]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Polish People's Republic]]
[[Category:Treaties of Portugal]]
[[Category:Treaties of South Korea]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Socialist Republic of Romania]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Soviet Union]]
[[Category:Treaties of Rwanda]]
[[Category:Treaties of Senegal]]
[[Category:Treaties of Serbia and Montenegro]]
[[Category:Treaties of Seychelles]]
[[Category:Treaties of Singapore]]
[[Category:Treaties of Slovakia]]
[[Category:Treaties of Slovenia]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Union of South Africa]]
[[Category:Treaties of Francoist Spain]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Dominion of Ceylon]]
[[Category:Treaties of Tajikistan]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Republic of Macedonia]]
[[Category:Treaties of Togo]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic]]
[[Category:Treaties of Uzbekistan]]
[[Category:Treaties of Venezuela]]
[[Category:Treaties of the Yemen Arab Republic]]
[[Category:Treaties of Yugoslavia]]
[[Category:Treaties of Zimbabwe]]
[[Category:1950 in New York]]
[[Category:Treaties adopted by United Nations General Assembly resolutions]]
[[Category:Treaties extended to Curaçao and Dependencies]]