FROM BONDAGE TO FREEDOM 59 Chapter 3 Critique of the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, 1949 A. Background Trafficking in persons has always raised human rights concerns and the creation of a human rights framework has been a major approach to combating it. Early human rights instruments against trafficking reflected the concerns of their time and the issue of trafficking in persons was dealt with from the perspective of the fight against prostitution and slavery. The first international conference on the prevention of “trafficking in women” was held in 1895 in Paris, followed by another in 1899 in London and one in Budapest. In 1904, sixteen States were represented at an international meeting in Paris, from which resulted the first International Agreement against “White Slavery”109. The Convention was desirous of securing to women of full age who have suffered abuse or compulsion, as also to women and girls under age, effective protection against the criminal traffic known as “White Slave Trade”. This Convention was limited to the compulsive forms of procurement in as far as it concerned adult women and did not address these situations where there was no apparent compulsion or abuse. Six years later, this Agreement was followed by a new Convention110, broadening its scope to include traffic in women within national boundaries. But, both these Conventions were limited explicitly to the process of recruitment, i.e., the process up to the moment a woman is actually handed over. Coercive conditions inside the brothels were not addressed. Therefore, in order to secure more completely the suppression of the traffic in women and children, an additional Convention was drafted in 1921111. The most important addition in this Convention was incorporation of trafficking of children of both the sexes. 109 110 111 International Agreement for the Suppression of the White Slave Trade signed in Paris, May 16, 1904. International Convention for the Suppression of the White Slave Trade signed in Paris, May 4, 1910. International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women and Children, Geneva, Switzerland, September 30, 1921.