Slavetrading

Slavetrading refers to the practice of capturing, transporting, and selling people as slaves, or institutions that profit from such transactions. Historically, slave trading has occurred in many parts of the world, with systems ranging from chattel slavery to debt bondage and forced labor. The most extensive form emerged during the Atlantic slave trade (roughly the 16th to the 19th centuries), when millions of Africans were captured or acquired and shipped to the Americas. Other major routes included the Indian Ocean trade, the Red Sea and Arabian markets, the Sahara caravan routes, and the Mediterranean world.

Estimates commonly place the Atlantic slave trade at around 12 million Africans transported to the Americas, with substantial mortality during the Middle Passage due to disease, malnutrition, and brutal treatment. Slavery and slave trading were reinforced by laws and social norms that dehumanized enslaved people and embedded forced labor in economic systems such as plantations and mines.

Abolition movements in the 18th and 19th centuries led to legal prohibitions on the slave trade in many countries, including Britain’s abolition of the slave trade in 1807 and the United States’ ban on importation in 1808; later developments culminated in universal prohibitions and international instruments. The 1926 Slavery Convention and subsequent frameworks established norms against slavery and trafficking and supported ongoing enforcement efforts.

In the modern era, trafficking for forced labor, sexual exploitation, and debt bondage persists, affecting millions worldwide. Contemporary efforts focus on prevention, protection of survivors, prosecution of traffickers, and accountability in global supply chains, coordinated by international organizations, governments, and civil society.