FROM BONDAGE TO FREEDOM 60 In 1933 a new international agreement was signed in Geneva112 that expanded the end results of trafficking to include all sexual and immoral purposes – not just prostitution. Force was no longer a constitutive element of trafficking, which now included enticement, procurement and leading away. The cross-border element was removed - thereby subjecting domestic activity to the Convention’s provisions. Each of these four instruments required States Parties to take measures aimed at improving information exchange on trafficking. Victim protection measures were also included. Notably, none of these four instruments directly addressed the issue of the legal status of the prostitution113. In 1949, the various White Slavery and Trafficking Agreements were consolidated into one instrument: the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others114 (Trafficking Convention). It can be said to be the first comprehensive attempt by the international community to address the issue of trafficking. The Convention came into force in 1951 and up till now it has 73 countries as members who have ratified it. B. Important Provisions of The Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, 1949 The Preamble to the Convention declares that prostitution and traffic in persons is “incompatible with the dignity and worth of the human person and endangers the welfare of the individual, the family and the community”115. The primary purpose of the 1949 Convention is to punish the trafficking and the procurement of women for the purposes of prostitution and to punish the exploitation of prostitutes, regardless of the victim’s age or consent 116. Therefore, the Convention calls for punishment of any person who keeps or manages or knowingly finances a brothel or knowingly lets or rents a building or other place or any part thereof for the purpose of the prostitution of others.117 In addition to 112 International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women, Geneva, Switzerland, October 11, 1933. 113 See Nina Larsen, “Slavery and Slavery-like Practices United Nations Standards and Implementation”, 57 NORDIC JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW (1988) 2002. 114 The Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, 1949, 96 UNTS, 271, G.A. Res. 317(IV) of 2 Dec. 1949, entered into force July 25, 1951. 115 Ibid, Preamble 116 Ibid, Art. 1 and 2. 117 Ibid Art. 2.