1956 United Nations treaty which builds upon the 1926 Slavery Convention
Extended international prohibition on slavery to cover debt bondage, serfdom, and exploitative marriage and child labor practices.
Key Facts
- Treaty type
- United Nations multilateral convention
- Date adopted
- 7 September 1956
- Builds upon
- 1926 Slavery Convention
- Also references
- Forced Labour Convention of 1930
- New practices banned
- Debt bondage, serfdom, servile and child marriage, child servitude
By the Numbers
Cause → Event → Consequence
The 1926 Slavery Convention had prohibited formal slavery and the slave trade, but left unaddressed entrenched practices such as debt bondage, serfdom, and forced marriage arrangements. The 1930 Forced Labour Convention similarly did not cover these traditional institutions. Post-World War II momentum for universal human rights protections revealed these gaps and prompted calls for a more expansive international legal instrument.
On 7 September 1956, the United Nations adopted the Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and Practices Similar to Slavery. The treaty explicitly prohibited debt bondage, serfdom, servile marriage, child marriage, and child servitude, extending earlier international obligations and creating binding commitments for signatory states to abolish practices structurally similar to formal slavery.
The convention established a broader international legal framework obligating member states to criminalize and eliminate slavery-like practices beyond chattel slavery itself. It strengthened the foundation for subsequent human rights instruments addressing forced labor and trafficking, and remains a core reference point in international humanitarian and anti-slavery law.
Political Outcome
Treaty adopted, extending international abolition obligations to debt bondage, serfdom, servile marriage, and child servitude.