Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Collaborating Against Human Trafficking: Cross-Sector Challenges and Practices

In the fight against human trafficking, cross-sector collaboration is vital-but often, systemic tensions undermine the effectiveness of these alliances. Kirsten Foot explores the most potent sources of such difficulties, offering insights and tools that leaders in every sector can use to re-think the power dynamics of partnering. Weaving together perspectives from many sectors including business, donor foundations, mobilization and advocacy NGOs, faith communities, and survivor-activists, as well as government agencies, law enforcement, and providers of victim services, Foot assesses how differences in social location (financial well-being, race, gender, etc.) and sector-based values contribute to interpersonal, inter-organizational, and cross-sector challenges. She convincingly demonstrates that finding constructive paths through such multi-level tensions-by employing a mix of shared leadership, strategic planning, and particular practices of communication and organization-can in turn facilitate more robust and sustainable collaborative efforts. An appendix provides exercises for use in building, evaluating, and trouble-shooting multi-sector collaborations, as well as links to online tools and recommendations for additional resources. All royalties from this book go to nonprofits in U.S. cities dedicated to facilitating cross-sector collaboration to end human trafficking. For more information and related resources, please visit http://CollaboratingAgainstTrafficking.info. Review Foot has written an excellent book: thoughtful, well researched, and instructive. I urge business leaders to read it and engage in the twenty-first-century fight against human slavery.--Marilyn Carlson Nelson, co-founder of the Global Business Coalition Against Trafficking [Foot's] insights into the roles of gender, race, class, and nonsurvivor or survivor status...contribute important knowledge to the countertrafficking field. They may also point to further lines of inquiry.... Because human trafficking hinges on the disempowerment and debasement of human beings, Foot's special attention to the role of power dynamics within counter-trafficking collaborations appears particularly important for social workers and other collaborators to consider closely.... Foot's many years of study, her balanced and inclusive approach, and her dissemination of practical knowledge makes her a reliable source of information for those who are committed to improving or building their own countertrafficking collaborations.--Social Work [Foot] presents a first-hand account and thoughtfully constructed conclusions around the many issues that develop when anti-trafficking organizations work together towards defeating human trafficking.... The book summarizes and provides a clear structure to many issues that have yet to be collectively considered in this field. Foot has written a highly practical text that makes many useful suggestions for improving inter-organizational collaboration by offering group exercises and resources that combat human trafficking. Her protocols are well referenced and include detailed footnotes.... Overall, Foot succeeds in drawing the reader in with captivating notes from her interviews, field work and experiences and utilizes jargon that is accessible to audiences of different levels. This text is succinct yet detailed, and the author makes a clear point to remain as impartial as possible in order to encourage the reader to view issues presented from multiple perspectives. This book is very relevant to inter-professional care because it can be used as a point of reference when considering potential issues and improvements for collaboration within not only criminal justice and social work, but also other health-related and community-focused fields. Foot states that trust, respect and perseverance are the values required to improve interdisciplinary collaboration - a necessary and central factor - in the fight against human