More than 20 million men, women, and children throughout the world are victims of trafficking in persons. The U.S. Government (USG), which maintains a zero-tolerance policy for government employees and contractors engaging in trafficking in persons, views human trafficking as a serious human rights abuse which is modern-day slavery. DoD policy centers on deterrence of any activities of Service members, civilian employees, indirect hires, contractor personnel, and command-sponsored dependents that facilitate or support trafficking in persons in both domestic and overseas environments. This includes activities such as enabling prostitution or patronizing a prostitute, even though such activities may be legal within a host nation. In the last ten years, a number of trafficking in persons allegations occurred in conjunction with contracting and subcontracting services tied to overseas contingency operations. In response, President Obama issued EO 13627, "Strengthening Protections Against Trafficking in Persons in Federal Contracts," which calls for stronger prohibitions on contractor engagement in human trafficking-related activities, new tailored compliance measures particularly in at-risk industries and sectors, and additional training in support of monitoring, identification, and compliance efforts. The USG recognizes the need to further strengthen barriers and monitoring to ensure such affronts to human dignity are not committed in association with government activities. The Department is dedicated to eliminating human trafficking not only because it is a crime against humanity, but also because it disrupts the stability of U.S. national security interests at home and abroad. Left unchecked, human trafficking fuels organized crime and other illegal activity that disrupts democratic transitions and intensifies conflict. This DoD Strategic Plan for Combating Trafficking in Persons provides a vision and mission for the Department in its collective effort to eliminate human trafficking across the defense enterprise. The Plan provides a strategic framework underpinned by four goals and nine objectives-all focused on realizing the Department's vision to eliminate human trafficking.