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International Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Women and Children [1921] PITSE 2 (30 September 1921)

INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF THE TRAFFIC IN WOMEN AND CHILDREN

(Geneva, 30 September 1921)

ENTRY INTO FORCE: 15 JUNE 1922

Depositary : Secretary General of the League of Nations

Albania, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, the British Empire (with Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Union of South Africa, New Zealand and India), Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, the Netherlands, Persia, Poland (with Danzig), Portugal, Romania, Siam, Sweden, Switzerland and Czechoslovakia,

BEING ANXIOUS to secure more completely the suppression of the Traffic in Women and Children described in the preambles to the Agreement of 18 May 1904 and to the Convention of 4 May 1910, under the name of "White Slave Traffic";

HAVING TAKEN NOTE of the Recommendations contained in the Final Act of the International Conference which was summoned by the Council of the League of Nations and met at Geneva from 30 June to 5 July 1921; and

HAVING DECIDED to conclude a Convention supplementary to the Arrangement and Convention mentioned above:

Have nominated for this purpose as their Plenipotentiaries:

[Names of plenipotentiaries not listed here.]

Who, having communicated their full powers, found in good and due form,

HAVE AGREED UPON THE FOLLOWING PROVISIONS:

Article 1

The High Contracting Parties agree that, in the event of their not being already Parties to the Agreement of 18 May 1904 and the Convention on 4 May 1910 mentioned above, they will transmit, with the least possible delay, their ratifications of, or adhesions to, those instruments in the manner laid down therein.

Article 2

The High Contracting Parties agree to take all measures to discover and prosecute persons who are engaged in the traffic in children of both sexes and who commit offences within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention of 4 May 1910.

Article 3

The High Contracting Parties agree to take the necessary steps to secure the punishment of attempts to commit, and, within legal limits, of acts preparatory to the commission of, the offences specified in Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention of 4 May 1910.

Article 4

The High Contracting Parties agree that, in cases where there are no extradition Conventions in force between them, they will take all measures within their power to extradite or provide for the extradition of persons accused or convicted of the offences specified in Articles 1 and 2 of the Convention of 4 May 1910.

Article 5

In paragraph B of the final Protocol of the Convention of 1910, the words "twenty completed years of age" shall be replaced by the words "twenty-one completed years of age".

Article 6

The High Contracting Parties agree, in case they have not already taken legislative or administrative measures regarding licensing and supervision of employment agencies and offices, to prescribe such regulations as are required to ensure the protection of women and children seeking employment in another country.

Article 7

The High Contracting Parties undertake in connection with immigration and emigration to adopt such administrative and legislative measures as are required to check the traffic in women and children. In particular, they undertake to make such regulations as are required for the protection of women and children travelling on emigrant ships, not only at the points of departure and arrival, but also during the journey, and to arrange for the exhibition, in railway stations and in ports, of notices warning women and children of the danger of the traffic and indicating the places where they can obtain accommodation and assistance.

Article 8

The present Convention, of which the French and the English texts are both authentic, shall bear this day's date, and shall be open for signature until 31 March 1922.

Article 9

The present Convention is subject to ratification. The instruments of ratification shall be transmitted to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, who will notify the receipt of them to the other Members of the League and to States admitted to sign the Convention. The instruments of ratification shall be deposited in the archives of the Secretariat.

In order to comply with the provisions of Article 18 of the Covenant of the League of Nations, the Secretary-General will register the present Convention upon the deposit of the first ratification.

Article 10

Members of the League of Nations which have not signed the present Convention before 1 April 1922 may accede to it.

The same applies to States not Members of the League to which the Council of the League may decide officially to communicate the present Convention.

Accession will be notified to the Secretary-General of the League, who will notify all Powers concerned of the accession and of the date on which it was notified.

Article 11

The present Convention shall come into force in respect of each Party on the date of the deposit of its ratification or act of accession.

Article 12

The present Convention may be denounced by any Member of the League or by any State which is a party thereto, on giving twelve months' notice of its intention to denounce. Denunciation shall be effected by notification in writing addressed to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations. Copies of such notification shall be transmitted forthwith by him to all other Parties, notifying them of the date on which it was received.

The denunciation shall take effect one year after the date on which it was notified to the Secretary-General, and shall operate only in respect of the notifying Power.

Article 13

A special record shall be kept by the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, showing which of the Parties have signed, ratified, acceded to or denounced the present Convention. This record shall be open to the Members of the League at all times; it shall be published as often as possible, in accordance with the directions of the Council.

Article 14

Any Member or State signing the present Convention may declare that the signature does not include any or all of its colonies, overseas possessions, protectorates or territories under its sovereignty or authority, and may subsequently adhere separately on behalf of any such colony, overseas possession, protectorate or territory so excluded in its declaration.

Denunciation may also be made separately in respect of any such colony, overseas possession, protectorate or territory under its sovereignty or authority, and the provisions of Article 12 shall apply to any such denunciation.

DONE at Geneva, the thirtieth day of September, nineteen hundred and twenty-one, in a single copy, which shall remain deposited in the archives of the League of Nations.

[Signatures not reproduced here.]