Understanding human trafficking as a contemporary form of slavery has promoted the most important developments in trafficking policy. This chapter delves into history and evolution of international anti-trafficking legislation. Starting with attempts to abolish the slave trade in the 1800s and the legal prostitution of women in Europe in the early 1900s, human trafficking finally found its definition in the UN Trafficking Protocol of 2000. This chapter also examines policy strategies to combat human trafficking, including the migration management approach, the criminal justice approach, and, ultimately, the human rights-based approach. The previous approaches through migration management and criminal justice failed to identify multiple instances of trafficked victims and their needs. Thus, an international consensus developed of the need for a rights-based approach to trafficking. However, while the human rights-based approach emphasises victim support, it overlooks aspects related to the perpetrators, meaning current strategies fail to explore ways to deter individuals from engaging in trafficking. This contrasts with the fact that understanding traffickers plays in effectively combating trafficking.