What is Don't Trade Lives?

A small Asian girls stands on the side of a busy road at night, with car lights flashing past her.

One child trafficked is one too many.

Don't Trade Lives is World Vision's campaign to unite Australians against human trafficking and slavery. Human trafficking is a modern day slave trade. The buying and selling of people for exploitative labour is the third biggest crime in the world today behind drugs and arms. Every sector of Australian society can impact on human trafficking in our region. Join us in telling Australia "Don't Trade Lives!"

Don't Trade Lives exists to unite Australians against human trafficking and slavery. Together we will:

Prevent people being trafficked
Advocate for trafficked victims
Tackle the causes of trafficking and slavery

Prevention

Trafficking is a human rights crime. Don't Trade Lives aims to reduce the vulnerability of people in communities to becoming victims of trafficking. Key components include awareness, education, strengthening communities, and promotion of an individual's rights.

Don't Trade Lives encourages education for at-risk communities about safe transit and labour migration to prevent the spread of trafficking at source, transit and destination countries. This must happen both across and within countries where trafficking exists, including Australia.

Human trafficking throughout our region is overwhelmingly linked to labour exploitation and unsafe labour migration. Don't Trade Lives recognizes the fundamental human pursuit to create a better life for individuals, their families and their children, while working to ensure that this happens safely.

Advocate for victims

Don't Trade Lives advocates for victims of trafficking. Virtually every country, including Australia, is implicated in the trade in human lives, either as a place of recruitment, transit or the destination of trafficked victims.

In Australia, Don't Trade Lives calls on all levels of government to enhance their responses to the needs of victims of trafficking and improve their access to support services.

Don't Trade Lives urges the Australian Government to lead the way by developing a detailed strategy that works with communities and governments in Australia and the region to adopt a human rights approach to trafficking.

Tackle the Causes

Many factors can make a person vulnerable to trafficking, including a lack of skills, lack of migrant protection and poverty. Don't Trade Lives aims to tackle all the causes of trafficking and slavery, including helping to end poverty.

A comprehensive response to trafficking should include more and better aid, including sustained poverty alleviation programs, along with greater efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. Read more about the Millennium Development Goals

Australia should lift its aid budget to at least 0.7% of national income by no later than 2015 and outline plans for incremental increases that will see our commitments fulfilled.

In every aspect of our lives, we can all act to eliminate trafficking and slavery in our lifetime.

As consumers, we need to be aware of what we buy and how it gets here. We should ask questions of industry and if we don't get satisfactory answers, we should keep asking!
As socially responsible workers, we must encourage our workplaces to advocate for change in the countries where they work, buy and source products, as well as contribute to programs that support people who are victims of trafficking and slavery in those countries.
As concerned citizens, we can encourage the Australian government to support victims in Australia with compassion, respect and adequate services.
As good neighbours, the Australian government should take a leading role in our region to adhere to best practices and polices for prevention, protection, and reintegration of trafficking victims.
As global citizens, we must call on the Australian Government to increase its support for holistic and comprehensive poverty alleviation programs that help prevent trafficking and protect vulnerable communities. Australia should contribute its fair share towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

About this site

Don't Trade Lives encourages you to learn more about the issues so you can help inform others and take practical action that will make a difference. Your actions can help change the lives of the tens of millions who are vulnerable and the growing numbers who are newly trafficked each day.

We want to hear from you! Tell us what you're doing, what you think of Don't Trade Lives and what you'd like to see included. By connecting with each other, we can have the greatest impact! If you have any news to share, questions to ask or suggestions for us, please use the Contact Us section.

About World Vision

World Vision is a Christian relief, development and advocacy organisation dedicated to working with children, families and communities to overcome poverty and injustice.

Last year, we helped more than 20.4 million people around the world through 735 projects in 62 countries, including work with Indigenous communities here in Australia.