Saviours or Disrupters? The Role of Non-State Actors in the Government-Centric Realm of Anti-Trafficking in Belize

This chapter argues that non-state actors are valuable for combatting human trafficking. Yet, despite their continuous presence in anti-trafficking, domestic, regional, and international law foci remain upon the respective governments’ contribution. This rhetoric and practice inaccurately position non-state actors (NSAs) as corollaries supporting national governments as ‘donors’ or ‘rescuers’. Using qualitative data from Belize this research critically analyses various approaches to partnerships to fill the gaps in knowledge on such anti-trafficking partnerships. The chapter will show that collaborations which are intentionally formed with careful and creative consideration of the local contexts can be a first step towards NSAs being fully engaged with current government-centric anti-trafficking frameworks.