Cross-sectoral collaboration in the pursuit of social change: Addressing sex trafficking in West Bengal

This is the authors' abstract. We don't add key points for this paper.

This field note explores how a hybrid social change organization based in India engaged in cross-sectoral collaboration with police and community-based sectors to address sex trafficking and advance both social change and service provision goals. Staff members successfully mobilized and engaged partners via insider tactics, ultimately improving the response of mainstream institutions to sex trafficking, while also strengthening individual services and community prevention efforts. An analysis of these partnerships offers transferable lessons on effective collaboration and the promise of an insider approach when mobilizing multiple sectors. Cross-sectoral collaboration may hold special promise for addressing complex social problems, like sex trafficking.