A Brief History of
Human Trafficking
Human trafficking has a long and complex history, with evidence of the exploitation of one person by another dating back to ancient civilizations. Throughout history, people have been traded as commodities, used for forced labour and exploitation.
​In the 19th century, the transatlantic slave trade saw millions of Africans forcibly taken from their homes and sold as slaves in the Americas. The abolition of slavery in the 19th century did not end the exploitation of human beings, and in the following centuries, people continued to be trafficked for various purposes, including forced labour, sexual exploitation, and organ trafficking.
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In the 20th century, human trafficking became a global issue, and the international community began to take action. The United Nations adopted the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children (also known as the Palermo Protocol) in 2000 as a supplement to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. The protocol defined trafficking in persons as the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons by means of threat, use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation.
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Despite these efforts, human trafficking remains a serious issue in many countries, affecting millions of people around the world. The COVID-19 pandemic has only heightened the vulnerability of people to trafficking, with increased economic instability leading to greater numbers of people being forced into exploitative situations.
The fight against human trafficking requires a coordinated and comprehensive approach, involving the efforts of governments, international organisations, civil society, and the private sector.
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