Nick Saris

Paradigm Shift Essay

CAS137H

Human trafficking has a portfolio that dates back to ancient times, and is found

throughout time intertwined with various issues that our world has faced. In ancient Rome,

human trafficking was seen as a profitable business, as remaining soldiers from defeated armies

were captured and distributed throughout cities for hard labor and other exploitations. During

this time period, Rome wasnt the only civilization taking part in such customs. In India, the

caste system implemented by Hinduism placed millions of people into a life of slavery and

forced labor in different areas around the country. In the 15th century, the introduction of the

European slave trade created a new aspect of human trafficking as various nations transported

natives from Africa into their home countries in order to distribute them throughout Europe.

Countries such as Portugal and Spain started a domino effect that would soon spread into other

mainland European nations, creating a full-fledged industry for slavery. When European nations

began to explore north and Central America, slavery and human trafficking would follow. Many

Africans traveled across the Atlantic Ocean in order to fuel the beginning of slave labor in the

new world. Since then, while the issue of slavery has been addressed and improved significantly,

human trafficking still prevails as a concern.

Towards the end of the 19th century, European nations began holding conferences to

solve the issue of human trafficking and white slavery in different countries. This terminology

arose when women across the globe were being abducted and thrown into the world of
prostitution for sexual exploitation. In 1904, 26 nations would sign the International Agreement

for the Suppression of White Slave Traffic, in an effort to being taking women out of

prostitution, and keeping free women out of it. This treaty would be the first sign of a greater

shift in human trafficking as a global initiative was taken to stop it. Though in 1910, a revision

would be made to the treaty adding on 15 nations, World War I would consume the attention of

the world and the human trafficking issue was lost in the shadows. After 5 or so years, WWI

ended and the League of Nations was formed in an effort to come closer to universal peace after

the war. As part of its establishment, the coalition aimed to solve other international issues, one

being human trafficking. The International Agreement for the Suppression of White Slave

Traffic would soon become known as traffic of women in children, in order to include both

race and gender/age. The League of Nations would use the agreement as more of a way to find

out about the prostitution business as a whole and the role human trafficking played within it. In

the early 1930s, prostitution quickly became popular in far eastern nation such as Japan, where

sex stations were set up by the government for past militants from World War I. Women from

around the country were forced and transported throughout the country to these stations where

men would rape and physically abuse women, leading to the deaths of thousands while at the

stations. Actions such as the ones taken by the Japanese government was a clear indication that

human trafficking hadnt changed enough in the world to where it was seen as a inhumane and a

violation of global human rights.

World War II would soon begin in 1939, putting a halt to the effort in creating awareness

of human trafficking, and full attention on the war. The creation of the United Nations in 1945

would spark conversation regarding global human trafficking and the Convention for the
Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others was

held 4 years later in 1949. The convention broke down the operation of international prostitution

and how a general assembly would be able to create an approach to sex slavery that would deem

both prostitution and human trafficking completely illegal. While the convention was considered

a large step towards a solution to the issues at hand, the fallout of WWII would put a halt to the

global attention of human trafficking for over 10 years. Thats when in 1956, new international

approach was taken to aid India, a country that would become one of the largest human

trafficking areas of the world. The result was the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, an initiative

taken to stop domestic trafficking and sex slavery throughout the nation. The outcome of the act

would lead to the investigation of commercial prostitution and the arrest of leaders of various sex

slavery organizations. While effective in decreasing sex slavery in the world, the act ultimately

failed to protect women from entering the sex slave industry, and little to no progress was made

in the decrease of trafficking as a whole in the state. In fact, while some women were pulled

from these sex stations and brothels, they would be placed back into dangerous areas where

unorganized prostitution controlled the lives of unstable women. Throughout the timespan of

the start of the 20th century to the end of 1950s, human trafficking continued to be disregarded

by the world as it continues to take a backseat to other global problems the world faced. As

world leaders continued to try and push for international legislative changes, the war culture of

the world kept these laws from being as effective as they could have been.

As the world began to move into a post-world war era, human trafficking had seemed to

be left behind in the rubble of the world wars. Leaders of the world had put a commanding focus

on peace amongst nations and the future of the world as a whole. It wasnt until the 1980s,

where human trafficking was once again in the international spotlight, connected once more to
sex slavery and prostitution. Its attention was brought upon by the introduction of feminism and

womens rights on an international basis. Women around the world began to speak out and stand

up for the rights they desired, but lacked. While war culture began to downsize from global

involvement on one issue into a regional/situational dispute, society began to evolve from a male

dominated lifestyle into an equal distribution of roles between men and women. This change in

cultural would be promoted through the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of

Discrimination Against Women in 1979. The event would include legislative plans to completely

rid of both the trafficking of women and prostitution of any sort. Both the international feminist

movement(s) and change in re-introduction of human trafficking as an international issue help

push for a shift in the issue and its relevance in the world. One could even argue that a minor

paradigm shift had occurred from the time of the end of WWII to the late 20th century as a

change in culture had occurred on a global basis. A theme of savagery and evil that tainted the

first 5 decades of the 20th century had seemed to dissolve completely, and was replaced with the

ideal of hope and prosperity of various nations by creating positive connections and relationships

between one another.

A paradigm shift is defined as a fundamental change in approach or underlying

assumptions. Towards the end of the 20th century, the world finds itself in an entirely different

position from where it was 100 years prior. Technological advances ruled the advancement of

both state and society, connecting to world together like never before. Ideas were being shared

faster, more efficiently, and most importantly, more effectively. In 1995, the United Nations

would hold the fourth World Conference in Beijing, China, with the commanding theme of

womens rights, safety, and equality. At the conference, a major point of concern regarding

human trafficking was addressed, explaining how violence holds a commonplace in human
trafficking culture, and that human trafficking takes more forms than just one. The introduction

of these two vital ideals makes the conference the paradigm shift, as this was the first instance

that human trafficking had been challenged in a new way, revealing characteristics about human

trafficking that failed to be internationally recognized. These new aspects of analysis would

become major points of discussion when making decisions for international legislation. Upon the

conclusion of the conference, the United Nations implemented base-line legislation that would

commence solutions that planned to put a stop to human trafficking and sex slavery both

domestically, and internationally. In addition, the conference would pose as the first of a series of

conferences addressing both womens rights and human trafficking.

After the shift, human traffickings approach on an international standpoint had changed

significantly. Rather than losing its relevance, human trafficking was seen now as mainstream

issue needing attention. In 2002, two students from Brown University started a NGO by the

name of the Polaris Project, with the goal of bringing human trafficking to an end, while

continuing to give the issue attention on both political and social levels. Today, the Polaris

Project is the largest non-profit organization fighting human trafficking in the world. 5 years

later, Child labor was addressed in the largest initiative against trafficking ever in history.

Organized by Global March, the month long walk along the borders of south Asian countries

attracted international attention to an area notorious for human trafficking. The march resulted in

changes made by the Indian government and further awareness of the issue in the area entirely.

Media too around the world began to report and educate the public of human trafficking and its

presence in the world. This would result in human trafficking gaining a household presence,

leading to further awareness and attention. Beyond news, the entertainment world caught on to

the newfound awareness of human trafficking and began producing material focused around it,
as its image connected a non-fictional issue with fear. In 2009, the film Taken was released,

following the story of a former CIA agent as he tries to rescue his daughter after she is captured

by human traffickers and put into sex slavery. This artifact took the average person into the life

of human trafficking, showing its severity and realism.

In conclusion, its clear that history has shown how human trafficking has been seen

throughout a timespan of hundreds of years, and how it can be found in various situations. From

labor slavery in the 1700s, to the sex slavery epidemic of the 20th century, human trafficking

has made its mark in history. The paradigm shift is a used as a point in time where the issue is

see as it never has been seen before, by the large number of people with a common goal. At the

point of shift, the analysis of human trafficking changed to a point where its definition was

broken down. The clarification differentiated between two themes of the issue, illegality and

traffickings defiance of human rights. This makes clear that while human trafficking in the

modern day is difficult to solely approach without the inclusion of prostitution and sex slavery,

the two issues are separate and contain their own sub-topics. By splitting the two apart, the result

shows that by seeing human trafficking as a crime before a violation of human rights, the

elimination of the crime itself would solve the human rights issue indirectly. Looking at the shift

on the scale of human traffickings history, one can see how a change is heavily reliant on

society's current status and the emotional culture held by individuals around the world. Rather

than being consumed by war and hatred, seen in the early 19th century, the people of the world

had put a focus on equality and human interest, in order to make the world a better place.
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