“Mma, human trafficking ke eng?”

It was four months ago. I was sitting in the kgotla, or community meeting space, at the small rural village of Chanoga in northwestern Botswana. It was the middle of the day and a stillness had settled over the village, punctuated only by the shouts of determined herd boys managing a seemingly steady flow of cattle.

Across from me sat an older woman with a plastic container of magwinya (fat cakes) next to her chair. Although she was rightfully more interested in turning a profit on her baked goods, she kindly agreed to let me interview her as a part of a baseline survey on local awareness of human trafficking.

After collecting the woman’s standard demographic details, I asked my first question: what is human trafficking? At first, she looked confused, but she soon arrived at the conclusion that I’m asking about illegal fishing in the nearby river. Her eyes lit up and she began to describe her frustrations with that act. She went on to talk about needy children in the area and the breakdown of the family structure. At the end of the interview, it was clear: while this woman was well-informed about illegal fishing and the plight of local orphans, she had never heard about human trafficking.

This woman is not alone. Since Botswana’s passage of the Anti-Human Trafficking Act in July 2014, human trafficking is a new buzzword that occasionally appears in national media. But despite the fresh attention paid to the issue, many Batswana conflate the term with crimes like cross-border smuggling, drug trafficking, and transnational sex work. Even though the law officially came into effect on January 1, 2015, district-level law enforcement officers and public prosecutors–the very people tasked with implementing the law–fall into this same trap.

This disparity is common in the endeavor to strengthen human rights protections in the realm of Rule of Law. Countries pass progressive legislation, but the reality on the ground doesn’t match the ideals encoded into law. Some local leaders are resistant to changes in norms and traditions imposed by a distant national government. Mobilization can also be problematic: issues like forced labor or child marriage may be endemic but relevant stakeholders haven’t been properly galvanized to address the challenge. Logistics also hinder implementation of human rights law, from the lack of training of prosecutors and police officers to the dearth of resources to create appropriate support centers for survivors of abuse.

How do we make human rights law relevant and effectively functional at the local level? First, it begins with partnerships. Government offices, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), faith institutions, traditional leaders, and the private sector all have roles to play, from resource mobilization to negotiating between individual rights and collective identity. Well-maintained networks and committees nourish these connections and build trust and collaboration amongst gender activists, pastors, and public school teachers alike.

Second, minimize discord between local traditions and legal rights. In the words of lawyer and activist Richard Thompson Ford, “Rights must be a part of a local culture of civic virtue and social engagement in order to really make a difference.” There are several traditional values that align with the concept of human rights, from neighborly love to public service. Working to align human rights with those values can make abstract rights seem less like imported constrictions and more like progressive expressions of pre-existing concepts. Moreover, adversarial approaches can often hurt rather than help. Instead, apply active listening, compassionate communication, and ardent consensus building into human rights trainings and advocacy.

Above all, patience and persistence are key. Changes in social mores generally occur across generations, so interventions do not often achieve instantaneous success. When it comes to the implementation of human rights law, relentless public education, stakeholder training, and network strengthening necessitate dogged determination and spirited commitment.