Kate Russell -Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking in South East Asia and the Pacific.”

Kate Russell ONZM, FFIA, is the Executive Director of Hagar NZ, a non-profit dedicated to combating modern slavery. She has a 30-year history in the NGO sector, has led several high-profile NZ charities and served on several government advisory boards. Kate is also a career Fundraiser and Community Development expert, and a business mentor through Business Mentors NZ.

Kate will discuss the growing issues of modern slavery and human trafficking, and the response by Hagar. She will also discuss the growing problems with this within NZ. Several forms of modern slavery are reported in New Zealand, including forced labour, forced sexual exploitation of adults, commercial sexual exploitation of children, and forced marriage. Despite comparatively low prevalence, the 2023 Global Slavery Index estimates there were 8,000 individuals living in modern slavery in New Zealand.