Human trafficking is the recruitment and/or receipt of human beings through force or other deceptive means. The end purpose of trafficking is exploitation. This can take many forms including slavery, debt bondage and servitude.

"Slavery" and "human trafficking" refer to similar crimes although the technical definitions highlight small differences.

Human trafficking is emerging as one of the world's most lucrative crime industries, after arms and drugs. Like arms and drugs, human trafficking is transnational and organised.

The scale of the problem is enormous. It is estimated that trafficking enslaves well over 27 million people around the globe. Many of these millions are our neighbours in Southeast Asia.

World Vision is firmly focused on seeking out and addressing the root causes of human trafficking and slavery in the 21st century. We take a rights-based, rather than a political approach, always with the aim of acting in the best interests of the victims. 

Don't Trade Lives is a World Vision campaign uniting Australians against human trafficking and slavery. There are a number of actions Australians can take that will contribute towards stamping out these heinous crimes.

While Don't Trade Lives advocates for the demise of human trafficking and slavery, World Vision's Child Rescue program focuses exclusively on assisting vulnerable children. In many parts of the world, large numbers of children are exploited and enslaved. The Child Rescue program targets vulnerable children who are beyond the reach of Child Sponsorship.