He has advocated for stricter laws against child trafficking and labour and met with mixed success so far. While growing up, Satyarthi has said he was concerned about the plight of child labourers around him and it finally prompted him to start an organised movement. His early attempts to raid factories employing child labourers met with hostile reaction from the factory owners and at times the police but the significance of his work was slowly recognised.
He also played an important role in the movement for Right to Education law for free compulsory education to children.
Several prestigious awards have been conferred on him, including Defenders of Democracy Award (2009-US), Medal of the Italian Senate (2007-Italy), Robert F Kennedy International Human Rights Award (USA) and Fredric Ebert International Human Rights Award (Germany) etc. He created the Global March against Child Labour, a movement that is active in many countries.