Slowly and painfully a picture is emerging of a global crime that shames us all. Billions of dollars are being made at the expense of millions of victims of human trafficking. The world has a strong legal weapon to fight this crime: the United Nations Anti-Human Trafficking Protocol that entered into force in December 2005. To augment this UNODC, together with five other international organizations, launched a Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking (UN.GIFT). This report provides background on human trafficking, explains what has been achieved in the first year of UN.GIFT, and identifies challenges that lie ahead.