Showing posts with label Sex trafficking in Cambodia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sex trafficking in Cambodia. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Mafia puts hits out on film crew documenting sex trafficking in Cambodia
October 27th, 2010
Examiner.com
Examiner.com
Redlight, is the latest film released by the K11 Project in cooperation with Priority Films. Narrated by actress Lucy Liu, Redlight is a documentary about the child sex trade in Cambodia.
The film itself is a "gut-wrenching life changer" as it shares the stories of children victimized by sex trafficking in Cambodia.
THE FILM
Below is the film description from the Redlight Website.
"Filmed over a four year period, REDLIGHT focuses on the personal stories of young Cambodian victims and two remarkable advocates for change: grass-roots activist Somaly Mam (one of my personal heroes) and politician Mu Sochua. Both have since been nominated for the Noble Peace Prize. The filmmakers Guy Jacobson and Adi Ezroni won the prestigious Global Hero Award for their work in Cambodia."
"Using footage smuggled out of brothels and harrowing testimonials, REDLIGHT follows the plight of several current and former child sex slaves. Some are trying to regain entry into Cambodian society to find some semblance of normality after their horrific experiences. Other stories highlight the plight of victims who are attempting to bring the perpetrators to justice. Their torturous yet ultimately heroic battles to find witnesses and take brothel owners to court are dramatically brought to life in this topical and moving feature documentary."
MAFIA PUTS HITS OUT ON THE FILM CREW
While filming, the K11 crew put their lives in danger as they circumnavigated Cambodian and Thailand mafia's, pimps and assassins.
"When the film crew arrived to shoot the investigative probe into the massive child sex industry, the Cambodian, Chinese, and Vietnamese mafia who controlled the industry had hits put out on the crew within days. It ultimately took 40 armed body guards to secure the cameramen and participants," reported Amanda Kloer of Change.org.
K11 said the following on their website.
"Equipment is stuck at the borders as ransom - On the scheduled first week of shooting, Guy Jacobson (Producer) and Guy Moshe (Director) try to negotiate with the chinese mafia to free the equipment trucks that are held hostage across the Thai border. After millions change hands, the trucks cross the border safely and the shoot begins."
"...Meanwhile the Documentary crew risk their lives - The documentary crew gains access to the most incredible heart wrenching stories. BUT, even mentioning a connection to the narrative film would put the crew's life in danger. The two crews cannot stay at the same hotels and barely communicate via cell phones for fear they are tapped. On one occasion, the two crews sit at the same restaurant but do not exchange a single word in order not to raise suspicion."
In addition to Redlight, The K11 Project has produced the following films regarding sex trafficking.
- Holly
- Virgin Harvest
- The K11 Journey
For more information: http://www.redlightthemovie.com/
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
An Interview with Theary Seng, on Sex Trafficking in Cambodia
Sunday, October 10, 2010Stephen M. Bauer
Originally posted at http://blog.nominetwork.org
Theary C. Seng is a former child refugee from the Khmer Rouge. She went on to become an attorney in the U.S. but has since returned to her place of birth in order to work full-time for human rights and social justice for her fellow Khmers. To learn more about her, see Nomi Network's, A Profile of Theary Seng, Cambodian Human Rights Activist.
Q. We know that you are involved with all of the human rights issues in Cambodia, especially with regard to trying to achieve justice for the victims of the Khmer Rouge. We at Nomi Network applaud your efforts. As an anti-sex trafficking organization, we would like to get your perspective on human trafficking in Cambodia.
I used to live on the riverfront in the heart of the respectable tourist sites of the palace, the national museum and high-end Western restaurants. But here also you find the sex traffickers roaming freely and openly preying on the young children or carousing with them in the open bars and public gardens. Here, it is an open hidden criminal enterprise as the problems run so wide and deep soiling even respectable spaces with their presence and activities. Cambodia is a safe haven for these criminals and sadists who not only exploit the bodies but also the souls and dignity of vulnerable young children and other human beings. Why? Easy profits with impunity because of the lax, corrupt law enforcement and many times the collusion with certain powerful individuals in law enforcement, military and government who profit from the trade.
It is not uncommon for me to hear stories from waitresses who would point out suspicious looking men here and there, each with two or three young girls around him sitting at a table near me in a respectable local hang out on the riverfront, detailing the patterns, frequency and behavior at their establishments. I would sit listening helplessly.
You cannot live in Cambodia and escape the trafficking problems, especially sex trafficking; you only need to open the local or English newspapers, listen to the Radio Free Asia, VOA or one of the other few broadcasts, pass along the riverfront and the myriads of karaoke/girly bars, or have a long enough conversation with another person, and the issues will bound to rise, many times discussed with resignation, nonchalance and only at times with a visceral disgust.
This is just surface observation. There’s a hellish underbelly to the night life that I am not even close to understanding, with all the 40-plus girly bars frequented by the foreigners and the countless karaoke salons and beer gardens frequented by the locals. They are already audacious in the broad daylight. What hell must go on behind those doors under the cover of night?
This modern slavery, whereby a PERSON is under the control of another and is treated as a chattel, with no pay or only the basic minimal subsistence includes not only sex trafficking involvement girls and women but also include forced labor among the children and the men. These problems run rampant here as well. People are kept as things, as objects and worked in the harshest conditions with effectively no pay to ever get out of this condition.
Q. We know that you and your entire family, along with millions of others, were used as slave labor by the Khmer Rouge during that period. Apart from driving Cambodia into abject poverty, which is a root cause of human trafficking, what impact, if any, did the Khmer Rouge have on either sex-trafficking, sexual violence, or prostitution?
The Khmer Rouge imprinted a destructive mentality upon us. A destructive mentality of impunity. A destructive mentality of helplessness. A destructive mentality of amorality where no longer our conscience pricks us of guilt. A destructive mentality of violence. A destructive mentality of dehumanizing another into objects. A destructive mentality of exploitation, of lack of accountability. This is why parents can sell their own children and not feel. Sexual violence occured during the Khmer Rouge years, but not to this degree. Prostitution did not exist during the Khmer Rouge years. The Khmer Rouge legacy is one of a dark mentality rather than one specific sexual or violent acts. The acts are only symptoms of something more diabolical.
Q. Since your return to Cambodia are you able to tell if the human trafficking situation in Cambodia is getting better or worse?
My first direct encounter with trafficking occurred in late 1995; I have at once a vivid and surreal/dreamlike memory of the crime. I was with a group of other volunteers going out in the late evening for fruit shakes on the circle of the Independence Monument. All of a sudden from nowhere, a woman ran wildly into our midst incoherently, wildly flailing for help. A few seconds later a man came screaming obscenity and waving a gun. Another Cambodian-American friend and I reflexively wrapped our bodies around hers to shield her away from the man who was screaming that she belonged to him using the most vulgar language. After what seemed like at least 20 minutes of surreal encounters of heated exchange and when he realized we weren’t going to let her go despite his violent threats, he moved away with the threat that he’ll find her yet.
This is the most direct and dramatic encounter I’ve had, but the situation now is a thousand times worse because of the porous borders, increased tourism, the obscene infusion of money involved and not available before, the increased inequity between the small elite and the poor majority, between rural poor and the urban rich, unemployment especially among a population of 14 million where half are under 20 years old, lack of education among a very traumatized population, and other social upheavals.
Q. In your work in Cambodia, have you or any of your organizations dealt with the issue of human trafficking, either of labor, sex, or other forms of trafficking?
I used to be very involved with the labor movement when it was just starting in 1997, but now my human rights work focuses mainly on education, justice and reconciliation as they relate to the Khmer Rouge years and to the KR Tribunal. My interest in the trafficking problems now is more a personal undertaking rather than regular professional involvement. How can I not be concerned especially as a fellow Cambodian woman? Their dignity is my dignity. The assault against them is an assault against me.
Q. What do you think can be done to help victims of sex trafficking, and what do you think can be done to eradicate sex trafficking permanently?
Effective law enforcement combined with education, employment and greater vigilance and concern by everyone in the community.
Q. In the various efforts in Cambodia to eliminate sex trafficking, do you see any gaps in the efforts of the organizations that are fighting it?
The human rights problems in Cambodia are so widespread and persistent; the trafficking issue is only one in a sea of problems. Everyone in civil society is stretched thin in terms of energy and resources. This said, however, better coordination could be had generally and more so with the courts and law enforcement. We tend to focus on the problems of the foreign perpetrators, but the larger problem is homegrown; it’s Cambodian men who are abusing their own; it’s the parents who are abusing their own; it’s the corrupt law enforcement officials and military who are abusing their own. We need to own up this very hard fact and be accountable.
Q. Are there any historical, cultural or gender issues that are specific to either Cambodia or the greater Mekong region that might be contributing to human trafficking? If so, what can be done about them?
Cambodian men believe that sleeping with virgins will give them virility, the younger the girl the better, especially with the fear of AIDS.
The problems in Vietnam and Thailand started with the Vietnam War and the large population of young soldiers; they persist with increased tourism again introduced to the region by the war.
The problems in Cambodia started with the presence of 24,000 UN soldiers and the problems persisted and stayed with increased tourism and the greater flush of money flowing through Cambodia since.
Q. Does the Cambodian government take human trafficking seriously enough? Prostitution is against the law in Cambodia. Do you think that there will ever be respect for and prosecution of the law, and what will it take to achieve that?
The Cambodian government can do so much more to combat trafficking in terms of education, law enforcement, and prosecution in the immediate term. The problem here is that some very power military and government officials are deeply involved in the trafficking syndicates, and they are untouched by the law and punishment.
The government is woefully inept in tackling the root causes of trafficking such as education, employment, legal and judicial reform, containing the military to be under the powers of the three branches of government, corruption etc.
Q. We know that serious problems like sex trafficking do not exist in isolation. Do you care to talk comment about the relationship between human trafficking and either other human rights abuses or unjust social conditions in Cambodia?
Trafficking is a serious symptom of the larger societal problems plaguing Cambodia: impunity, lack of education, trauma, unemployment, etc. The problem is one of mentality: the mentality of fear, of repression, of censorship.
Q. We know that you are involved with all of the human rights issues in Cambodia, especially with regard to trying to achieve justice for the victims of the Khmer Rouge. We at Nomi Network applaud your efforts. As an anti-sex trafficking organization, we would like to get your perspective on human trafficking in Cambodia.
I used to live on the riverfront in the heart of the respectable tourist sites of the palace, the national museum and high-end Western restaurants. But here also you find the sex traffickers roaming freely and openly preying on the young children or carousing with them in the open bars and public gardens. Here, it is an open hidden criminal enterprise as the problems run so wide and deep soiling even respectable spaces with their presence and activities. Cambodia is a safe haven for these criminals and sadists who not only exploit the bodies but also the souls and dignity of vulnerable young children and other human beings. Why? Easy profits with impunity because of the lax, corrupt law enforcement and many times the collusion with certain powerful individuals in law enforcement, military and government who profit from the trade.
It is not uncommon for me to hear stories from waitresses who would point out suspicious looking men here and there, each with two or three young girls around him sitting at a table near me in a respectable local hang out on the riverfront, detailing the patterns, frequency and behavior at their establishments. I would sit listening helplessly.
You cannot live in Cambodia and escape the trafficking problems, especially sex trafficking; you only need to open the local or English newspapers, listen to the Radio Free Asia, VOA or one of the other few broadcasts, pass along the riverfront and the myriads of karaoke/girly bars, or have a long enough conversation with another person, and the issues will bound to rise, many times discussed with resignation, nonchalance and only at times with a visceral disgust.
This is just surface observation. There’s a hellish underbelly to the night life that I am not even close to understanding, with all the 40-plus girly bars frequented by the foreigners and the countless karaoke salons and beer gardens frequented by the locals. They are already audacious in the broad daylight. What hell must go on behind those doors under the cover of night?
This modern slavery, whereby a PERSON is under the control of another and is treated as a chattel, with no pay or only the basic minimal subsistence includes not only sex trafficking involvement girls and women but also include forced labor among the children and the men. These problems run rampant here as well. People are kept as things, as objects and worked in the harshest conditions with effectively no pay to ever get out of this condition.
Q. We know that you and your entire family, along with millions of others, were used as slave labor by the Khmer Rouge during that period. Apart from driving Cambodia into abject poverty, which is a root cause of human trafficking, what impact, if any, did the Khmer Rouge have on either sex-trafficking, sexual violence, or prostitution?
The Khmer Rouge imprinted a destructive mentality upon us. A destructive mentality of impunity. A destructive mentality of helplessness. A destructive mentality of amorality where no longer our conscience pricks us of guilt. A destructive mentality of violence. A destructive mentality of dehumanizing another into objects. A destructive mentality of exploitation, of lack of accountability. This is why parents can sell their own children and not feel. Sexual violence occured during the Khmer Rouge years, but not to this degree. Prostitution did not exist during the Khmer Rouge years. The Khmer Rouge legacy is one of a dark mentality rather than one specific sexual or violent acts. The acts are only symptoms of something more diabolical.
Q. Since your return to Cambodia are you able to tell if the human trafficking situation in Cambodia is getting better or worse?
My first direct encounter with trafficking occurred in late 1995; I have at once a vivid and surreal/dreamlike memory of the crime. I was with a group of other volunteers going out in the late evening for fruit shakes on the circle of the Independence Monument. All of a sudden from nowhere, a woman ran wildly into our midst incoherently, wildly flailing for help. A few seconds later a man came screaming obscenity and waving a gun. Another Cambodian-American friend and I reflexively wrapped our bodies around hers to shield her away from the man who was screaming that she belonged to him using the most vulgar language. After what seemed like at least 20 minutes of surreal encounters of heated exchange and when he realized we weren’t going to let her go despite his violent threats, he moved away with the threat that he’ll find her yet.
This is the most direct and dramatic encounter I’ve had, but the situation now is a thousand times worse because of the porous borders, increased tourism, the obscene infusion of money involved and not available before, the increased inequity between the small elite and the poor majority, between rural poor and the urban rich, unemployment especially among a population of 14 million where half are under 20 years old, lack of education among a very traumatized population, and other social upheavals.
Q. In your work in Cambodia, have you or any of your organizations dealt with the issue of human trafficking, either of labor, sex, or other forms of trafficking?
I used to be very involved with the labor movement when it was just starting in 1997, but now my human rights work focuses mainly on education, justice and reconciliation as they relate to the Khmer Rouge years and to the KR Tribunal. My interest in the trafficking problems now is more a personal undertaking rather than regular professional involvement. How can I not be concerned especially as a fellow Cambodian woman? Their dignity is my dignity. The assault against them is an assault against me.
Q. What do you think can be done to help victims of sex trafficking, and what do you think can be done to eradicate sex trafficking permanently?
Effective law enforcement combined with education, employment and greater vigilance and concern by everyone in the community.
Q. In the various efforts in Cambodia to eliminate sex trafficking, do you see any gaps in the efforts of the organizations that are fighting it?
The human rights problems in Cambodia are so widespread and persistent; the trafficking issue is only one in a sea of problems. Everyone in civil society is stretched thin in terms of energy and resources. This said, however, better coordination could be had generally and more so with the courts and law enforcement. We tend to focus on the problems of the foreign perpetrators, but the larger problem is homegrown; it’s Cambodian men who are abusing their own; it’s the parents who are abusing their own; it’s the corrupt law enforcement officials and military who are abusing their own. We need to own up this very hard fact and be accountable.
Q. Are there any historical, cultural or gender issues that are specific to either Cambodia or the greater Mekong region that might be contributing to human trafficking? If so, what can be done about them?
Cambodian men believe that sleeping with virgins will give them virility, the younger the girl the better, especially with the fear of AIDS.
The problems in Vietnam and Thailand started with the Vietnam War and the large population of young soldiers; they persist with increased tourism again introduced to the region by the war.
The problems in Cambodia started with the presence of 24,000 UN soldiers and the problems persisted and stayed with increased tourism and the greater flush of money flowing through Cambodia since.
Q. Does the Cambodian government take human trafficking seriously enough? Prostitution is against the law in Cambodia. Do you think that there will ever be respect for and prosecution of the law, and what will it take to achieve that?
The Cambodian government can do so much more to combat trafficking in terms of education, law enforcement, and prosecution in the immediate term. The problem here is that some very power military and government officials are deeply involved in the trafficking syndicates, and they are untouched by the law and punishment.
The government is woefully inept in tackling the root causes of trafficking such as education, employment, legal and judicial reform, containing the military to be under the powers of the three branches of government, corruption etc.
Q. We know that serious problems like sex trafficking do not exist in isolation. Do you care to talk comment about the relationship between human trafficking and either other human rights abuses or unjust social conditions in Cambodia?
Trafficking is a serious symptom of the larger societal problems plaguing Cambodia: impunity, lack of education, trauma, unemployment, etc. The problem is one of mentality: the mentality of fear, of repression, of censorship.
Friday, September 03, 2010
Lucy Liu Shines a ‘Redlight‘ on Child Sexploitation in New Showtime Documentary
LUCY LIU SHINES A “REDLIGHT” ON CHILD SEXPLOITATION IN NEW DOCUMENTARY ON SHOWTIME
To Premiere Thursday, September 9th In Honor of
Washington D.C.‘s Human Trafficking Awareness Month
Washington D.C.‘s Human Trafficking Awareness Month
LOS ANGELES, CA – (September 1, 2010) – REDLIGHT, a powerful feature film documentary exposing the horrors of the illegal sex trade market in Southeast Asia, will make its television premiere on SHOWTIME on Thursday, September 9th at 8pm et/pt. Narrated by actress/producer/UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lucy Liu, the film’s September airdate honors Washington D.C.’s Human Trafficking Awareness Month.
Filmed over a four-year period, REDLIGHT focuses on the personal, real-life stories of Cambodian children who are victims of human trafficking and two courageous advocates for change: grass-roots activist Somaly Mam and politician Mu Sochua. Both have since been nominated for the Noble Peace Prize. Juxtaposing between gritty footage smuggled out of brothels and harrowing testimonials, REDLIGHT follows several current and former child sex slaves as they struggle to regain entry into Cambodian society or attempt to bring their perpetrators to justice, while others tragically return to their lives of prostitution – either willingly or by force.
REDLIGHT is produced by an award-winning team that includes Liu, Kerry Girvin, The Sibs (Colin Keith Gray & Megan Raney Aarons); Betsy Hart; Guy Jacobson and Adi Ezroni. The film is directed by RedLight Children Founder Guy Jacobson and Ezroni, both of whom won the U.S. State Department’s prestigious Global Hero Award for their work in Cambodia.
Filmed over a four-year period, REDLIGHT focuses on the personal, real-life stories of Cambodian children who are victims of human trafficking and two courageous advocates for change: grass-roots activist Somaly Mam and politician Mu Sochua. Both have since been nominated for the Noble Peace Prize. Juxtaposing between gritty footage smuggled out of brothels and harrowing testimonials, REDLIGHT follows several current and former child sex slaves as they struggle to regain entry into Cambodian society or attempt to bring their perpetrators to justice, while others tragically return to their lives of prostitution – either willingly or by force.
REDLIGHT is produced by an award-winning team that includes Liu, Kerry Girvin, The Sibs (Colin Keith Gray & Megan Raney Aarons); Betsy Hart; Guy Jacobson and Adi Ezroni. The film is directed by RedLight Children Founder Guy Jacobson and Ezroni, both of whom won the U.S. State Department’s prestigious Global Hero Award for their work in Cambodia.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
In ‘Red Light,’ a Portrait of the Sex Trade
Men Kimseng, VOA KhmerNew York Tuesday, 29 June 2010
“The drunk chief of police who raped my daughter came to my home.”A sex trade documentary that was four years in the making and took the collaboration of a politician and a former sex slave turned advocate premiered in New York last week, highlighting an ongoing problem fed in part by collaboration of society, officials and police.
“Red Light” shows how parents sell daughters, government officials use secret brothels to procure sex and the extent to which the trade exposes children to abuse.
The film, which took more than four years to make, was produced in part by actress Lucy Liu and features activist Mam Somaly, who escaped the brothels as a girl, and opposition lawmaker Mu Sochua, who was once a minister for women’s affairs.
Filmmakers used hidden cameras and took risks in brothels to bring back footage from the sex trade to increase awareness of the dangers of exploitation.
“When I saw the movie, I remembered every word those children said,” Mu Sochua told VOA Khmer after the screening. “I can still smell the mud at the brothels I passed on my way to Poipet. I can never forget the tears and emotion of these girls, who described to me their hardships and their experiences, [such as] losing their virginity for the first time, after they were sold to brothels, and being forced to serve more than 10 clients a day. We, as parents and as responsible people, cannot stand for that.”
“Red Light” examines betrayal by neighbors and friends who lure children into the sex trade. A 14-year-old girl describes her rape and subsequent sale by a neighbor to a brothel. She is then sold from one brothel to another. Two girls are sold by their own parents into brothels.
Another girl, Ani, 13, was forced to sleep with high-ranking government officials in a brothel disguised as a noodle shop.
“The drunk chief of police who raped my daughter came to my home,” Ani’s father says in the film. “He told me I should let him sleep with my daughter again. “I would never sell my daughter. You would have to kill me.”
“Red Light” is also a reminder of the loopholes in Cambodia’s legal frameworks that allow perpetrators to buy their way out of trouble.
“We need to ask ourselves, mostly men, why do men have this urge to exploit a little child, whether it’s a boy or a girl,” Adi Ezroni, one of three directors, said at the screening. “And that’s really the issue that we have to speak about.”
Film production team took risks from those who benefit from the business. They had to use hidden cameras to film in the lucrative karaokay parlors and brothels. Film makers hope their film will help raise more awareness of the danger of sexual exploitation children face.
“With enough of this education and exposure we are able to change both people’s mindset, law...and to decrease demand because as far as I am concerned kids should never ever be raped and touched by anybody,” film maker Guy Jacobson told journalists. “I don’t care who the kid is and I don’t care who the adult is, there is absolutely no scenario in which it is okay for an adult to have sex with a kid; period.”
However, victims get discriminated when they try to integrate back into society.
“I would like to make a new appeal to please have a pity on those people both the children and women. It was not their choice to fall into this trap of prostitution,” said Mu Sochua. “Once the society discriminates against them, they will lose their future.”
The premiere drew a wide range of audience including celebrities and rights activists.
“I just feel that we need to take some actions and that a lot of countries need to get involved than being involved now,” Cynthia Kirchner, an actress and model, told VOA Khmer. “The girls are so strong to have gone through what they’ve gone through and to tell their story and they are just so brave and I think that everyone that has involved has done such a good job in getting their story told.”
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
The Herstory of Somaly Mam
Somaly Mam (left)March 2, 2010
By Eryn-Ashlei Bailey
Conducive Chronicle
On September 8, 2008 I was fortunate to hear Somaly Mam speak at Fordham University in New York. Somaly is a survivor of rape, forced prostitution, and a forerunner in the fight against human trafficking. She was Glamour Magazine’s Woman of the Year in 2006. She’s been a guest on the Tyra Banks show alongside Susan Sarandon. Somaly Mam has even met with the Queen of Spain. These are but a few of the wonderful accomplishments of this genuinely sweet and lovely woman from Cambodia.
Somaly Mam has a very moving story. She pioneered her own shelter in Cambodia for young children and adolescents who have worked in brothels in Cambodia and across the world. In the brothels of Cambodia and elsewhere, there was, and still is, little choice for the young women and children who work in them. Many are there out of economic need. Some are sold by family members for a profit, others are kidnapped and sold to the brothel, and others would rather work in a brothel than to see their families hungry and sick. In her speech, Somaly reflected back to the time when she lived the brothel life. She witnessed a friend’s murder, and admitted to wanting to murder that man who left her only friend slain. For Somaly, she didn’t know what love was growing up. She didn’t know what life was.
At 12 years old, Somaly was sold to a brothel by a man that she called her grandfather. She considered escaping the brothel, but then wondered why. No one loved her outside of the brothel. Somaly pointed out that child prostitutes are victimized three-threefold. They are punished by laws that don’t give due process. They are stigmatized by society,and by their families. If girls become prostitutes, their families won’t take them back because they are seen as “bad luck”. Men are rarely prosecuted for crimes related to prostitution in Cambodia. Somaly shared that out of 4,000 cases of child prostitution that she knew of at the time of this speech, only 3 men were convicted and sentenced to the maximum 3 year sentence.
Somaly Mam also shared the following figures and facts about child prostitution in Cambodia’s Phnom Penh: 70% of the patrons at these brothels are local males. They target young girls as young as age 4 and 5. In the West, sex with children ages 4 and 5 is considered statutory rape, reprehensible, and these men would be labeled as pedophiles. Somaly Mam detailed specific reasons why these brothel frequenters target incredibly young children and explained that it is due to the belief systems of the society. For example, these men that sexually exploit children believe that sex with a virgin will cure HIV, give them white skin, and perpetuate longevity etc… After losing their virginity, many young girls will get stitches to be sold as a virgin again because virgins turn a higher profit than children who have already lost their virginity. Unsurprisingly, 30% of the patrons of these often dirty and clandestine brothels are Westerners. Somaly Mam also shared that these victims of this abuse are HIV positive and they are going to die. Although brothel owners turn immense profits from reselling the virginity of these young children and exploiting these teens and adolescents, these forced child prostitutes will still die of HIV because money for the resources and medication to treat them is in the pockets of the sick individuals who fuel this system. Their lives are short- lived and horrific. Their innocence is stolen for 5 minutes of pleasure to satisfy the unquenchable appetites of pedophiles.
Women don’t have equal rights in Cambodia. They sacrifice their lives for the family. One question posed to Somaly was, “How do we combat human trafficking?” She answered, “Work with politics and government. Law and commitment to those laws need to be in place in order to make a change. We need to react more encouraged.” She suggested that attenders visit her website at somaly.org as well visit the Red Light Children’s Organization. Somaly Mam has done incredible work with establishing programs for young woman who have sold themselves to the brothel and has worked with these young girls to reclaim their lives. It is absolutely inspirational work that she is doing with these young people. Perhaps the most important contribution that Somaly Mam has made in the fight against human trafficking is sharing her testimony and making the world aware that it is such a global problem. Human trafficking is the second most lucrative business only to arms trafficking.
Progressive steps that Somaly has taken to change the faulty thinking of brothel goers includes speaking with military officers in Cambodia about changes in sexual behavior. If there was no demand for sex with children, there wouldn’t be child brothels. Hence, she speaks to military personal about love-making with their wives, using condoms, HIV, and awareness of other STD’s. The discussion also included a need to attack transnational-child pornography. Attenders were encouraged to talk about these issues of human trafficking, transnational pornography, pedophilia and child prostitution with friends, families, colleagues to spread awareness.
The best resource for learning more about Somaly Mam’s incredible story is her autobiography: The Road of Loss Innocence. It’s one of the best books that I’ve ever read.
Somaly Mam has a very moving story. She pioneered her own shelter in Cambodia for young children and adolescents who have worked in brothels in Cambodia and across the world. In the brothels of Cambodia and elsewhere, there was, and still is, little choice for the young women and children who work in them. Many are there out of economic need. Some are sold by family members for a profit, others are kidnapped and sold to the brothel, and others would rather work in a brothel than to see their families hungry and sick. In her speech, Somaly reflected back to the time when she lived the brothel life. She witnessed a friend’s murder, and admitted to wanting to murder that man who left her only friend slain. For Somaly, she didn’t know what love was growing up. She didn’t know what life was.
At 12 years old, Somaly was sold to a brothel by a man that she called her grandfather. She considered escaping the brothel, but then wondered why. No one loved her outside of the brothel. Somaly pointed out that child prostitutes are victimized three-threefold. They are punished by laws that don’t give due process. They are stigmatized by society,and by their families. If girls become prostitutes, their families won’t take them back because they are seen as “bad luck”. Men are rarely prosecuted for crimes related to prostitution in Cambodia. Somaly shared that out of 4,000 cases of child prostitution that she knew of at the time of this speech, only 3 men were convicted and sentenced to the maximum 3 year sentence.
Somaly Mam also shared the following figures and facts about child prostitution in Cambodia’s Phnom Penh: 70% of the patrons at these brothels are local males. They target young girls as young as age 4 and 5. In the West, sex with children ages 4 and 5 is considered statutory rape, reprehensible, and these men would be labeled as pedophiles. Somaly Mam detailed specific reasons why these brothel frequenters target incredibly young children and explained that it is due to the belief systems of the society. For example, these men that sexually exploit children believe that sex with a virgin will cure HIV, give them white skin, and perpetuate longevity etc… After losing their virginity, many young girls will get stitches to be sold as a virgin again because virgins turn a higher profit than children who have already lost their virginity. Unsurprisingly, 30% of the patrons of these often dirty and clandestine brothels are Westerners. Somaly Mam also shared that these victims of this abuse are HIV positive and they are going to die. Although brothel owners turn immense profits from reselling the virginity of these young children and exploiting these teens and adolescents, these forced child prostitutes will still die of HIV because money for the resources and medication to treat them is in the pockets of the sick individuals who fuel this system. Their lives are short- lived and horrific. Their innocence is stolen for 5 minutes of pleasure to satisfy the unquenchable appetites of pedophiles.
Women don’t have equal rights in Cambodia. They sacrifice their lives for the family. One question posed to Somaly was, “How do we combat human trafficking?” She answered, “Work with politics and government. Law and commitment to those laws need to be in place in order to make a change. We need to react more encouraged.” She suggested that attenders visit her website at somaly.org as well visit the Red Light Children’s Organization. Somaly Mam has done incredible work with establishing programs for young woman who have sold themselves to the brothel and has worked with these young girls to reclaim their lives. It is absolutely inspirational work that she is doing with these young people. Perhaps the most important contribution that Somaly Mam has made in the fight against human trafficking is sharing her testimony and making the world aware that it is such a global problem. Human trafficking is the second most lucrative business only to arms trafficking.
Progressive steps that Somaly has taken to change the faulty thinking of brothel goers includes speaking with military officers in Cambodia about changes in sexual behavior. If there was no demand for sex with children, there wouldn’t be child brothels. Hence, she speaks to military personal about love-making with their wives, using condoms, HIV, and awareness of other STD’s. The discussion also included a need to attack transnational-child pornography. Attenders were encouraged to talk about these issues of human trafficking, transnational pornography, pedophilia and child prostitution with friends, families, colleagues to spread awareness.
The best resource for learning more about Somaly Mam’s incredible story is her autobiography: The Road of Loss Innocence. It’s one of the best books that I’ve ever read.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Over 55,000 young women in Cambodia are trapped in sexual slavery
A means to an end
Monday, September 21 2009
Rachel Lamb, Asst. Life Editor
The Spectrum (Student's newspaper at the U. at Buffalo)
Girls and women are kept in steel cages in dark back alley slums until eager men are escorted in, pick one out and then give money to have sex with them on tattered cots.
This is reality for over 55,000 young women in Cambodia that are trapped in sexual slavery. It is estimated that 35 percent of those girls are younger than 16 years old.
Vintage On Campus, a student Christian group, is trying to end sex trafficking in Cambodia. They are teaming with Agape International Missions, which has a station in Asia where sex trafficking is most prevalent.
On Sept. 16, VOC held an event in the Student Union to raise awareness and money to help stop human sex trafficking in Cambodia. Members of VOC also rocked on a giant seesaw for one-hour timeslots.
“The seesaw was mainly to catch people’s eyes and have them come over,” said Jay Perillo, VOC’s campus minister. “But we also wanted to get the message across that we were ‘tipping the scales of injustice.’”
Many students milled around the event last Wednesday, where there were plenty of brochures, pamphlets and literature to read about the event. VOC also offered Web sites, like Agape International Mission’s Web site, aim4asia.com, where people can make donations.
VOC also supplied orange bracelets, claiming that orange is the color of freedom. The group encouraged students to wear the color to show that they are a part of finding an end to sex trafficking.
“We need to do whatever we can to stop human trafficking,” Perillo said.
Along with the money raised by the VOC members and their sponsors, Perillo estimates that donations brought in over $1,000. All of the proceeds will go directly to AIM’s site to help rescue young girls who are sex slaves.
According to Perillo, AIM helps those who are enslaved by pulling them out of the alleys, educating them, and giving them food, shelter and safety in its Restoration Center in Cambodia. The program also provides therapy and spiritual guidance to the traumatized victims.
“[AIM] is a great organization and we want to help them in whatever way we can,” Perillo said.
According to its Web site, AIM has helped thousands of people and has opened over 600 churches in Cambodia since its inception in 1988 in California.
AIM also provides financial support, disaster relief, medical supplies and personnel.
The VOC is relatively new to UB. It was started in the spring 2009 semester. Dave Ashby, a UB alumnus and head of the set-up and teardown team, hopes that the VOC will make a difference with the sex trafficking in Cambodia.
“The VOC would like to eventually expand and do mission trips and raise more money,” Ashby said.
Ashby raised money and sat on the seesaw for an hour with a fellow member of the VOC.
“I wish I could have raised more, but I’m glad that I was able to help,” he said.
VOC would like to put together more events to help end sex trafficking not only in Cambodia, but also all over the world.
“I hope that VOC will expand over the next few years so that we can have more support on campus and so that we can raise more money for all the people that we want to help,” Ashby said.
This is reality for over 55,000 young women in Cambodia that are trapped in sexual slavery. It is estimated that 35 percent of those girls are younger than 16 years old.
Vintage On Campus, a student Christian group, is trying to end sex trafficking in Cambodia. They are teaming with Agape International Missions, which has a station in Asia where sex trafficking is most prevalent.
On Sept. 16, VOC held an event in the Student Union to raise awareness and money to help stop human sex trafficking in Cambodia. Members of VOC also rocked on a giant seesaw for one-hour timeslots.
“The seesaw was mainly to catch people’s eyes and have them come over,” said Jay Perillo, VOC’s campus minister. “But we also wanted to get the message across that we were ‘tipping the scales of injustice.’”
Many students milled around the event last Wednesday, where there were plenty of brochures, pamphlets and literature to read about the event. VOC also offered Web sites, like Agape International Mission’s Web site, aim4asia.com, where people can make donations.
VOC also supplied orange bracelets, claiming that orange is the color of freedom. The group encouraged students to wear the color to show that they are a part of finding an end to sex trafficking.
“We need to do whatever we can to stop human trafficking,” Perillo said.
Along with the money raised by the VOC members and their sponsors, Perillo estimates that donations brought in over $1,000. All of the proceeds will go directly to AIM’s site to help rescue young girls who are sex slaves.
According to Perillo, AIM helps those who are enslaved by pulling them out of the alleys, educating them, and giving them food, shelter and safety in its Restoration Center in Cambodia. The program also provides therapy and spiritual guidance to the traumatized victims.
“[AIM] is a great organization and we want to help them in whatever way we can,” Perillo said.
According to its Web site, AIM has helped thousands of people and has opened over 600 churches in Cambodia since its inception in 1988 in California.
AIM also provides financial support, disaster relief, medical supplies and personnel.
The VOC is relatively new to UB. It was started in the spring 2009 semester. Dave Ashby, a UB alumnus and head of the set-up and teardown team, hopes that the VOC will make a difference with the sex trafficking in Cambodia.
“The VOC would like to eventually expand and do mission trips and raise more money,” Ashby said.
Ashby raised money and sat on the seesaw for an hour with a fellow member of the VOC.
“I wish I could have raised more, but I’m glad that I was able to help,” he said.
VOC would like to put together more events to help end sex trafficking not only in Cambodia, but also all over the world.
“I hope that VOC will expand over the next few years so that we can have more support on campus and so that we can raise more money for all the people that we want to help,” Ashby said.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Book Review: The Road of Lost Innocence - The True Story of a Cambodian Heroine by Somaly Mam
November 14, 2008Written by Jennifer Bogart
Blogcritics Magazine (USA)
Some books are dangerous; reading them opens your eyes and makes you see the world around you in a different way. After reading them this new understanding of reality lingers and is not easily dismissed. Stories like these drive you to action, serving as a call to take up arms. Somaly Mam’s memoir, The Road of Lost Innocence, is one such book.
Born in Cambodia during years of political turmoil, Somaly never knew her parents – she still doesn’t know what became of them. Left by her grandmother in a tribal village, her early years were spent outdoors, roaming amongst the huts looking for food. These years were happy compared to those that would follow after leaving northern Cambodia with a man who claimed to know of her parents at the age of six.
This man, her “grandfather” would proceed to beat and molest her, sell her virginity to pay his debts at the age of 11, marry her to an abusive husband at the age of fourteen and finally sell her to a brothel at 16. As you can imagine Somaly’s story is not an easy, feel good read. The list of travesties, betrayals and corruption she has known is far too lengthy to detail here.
Catching glimpses of a better life, Somaly is eventually able to escape from the bondage of sexual slavery. Using the only currency at her disposal she begins to make alliances with foreign men – those with wealth and power – and uses them to begin her slow ascent out of prostitution. After achieving her freedom the girls she left behind haunt her. Knowing the devastation trafficking in girl-flesh wreaks she cannot stand motionless while atrocities are committed; hopefully you won’t be able to either when this story comes to a close.
Presented in spare, matter of fact prose the writing itself mimics the Cambodian attitude towards life; silent, understated. Coming from a people who disguise their emotions to the utmost – simply writing this memoir is a break with traditional Cambodian culture. Somaly however, has long since ceased to be a traditional Cambodian.
The words seek to describe without betraying the depths of emotional pain behind them, but it still seeps through. Between each and every line, in the silences and pauses the pain is there alongside the fear and anger. The Road of Lost Innocence is the anguished soul cry of a woman who has never truly been loved, the heart breaking sobs of a shattered little girl.
Somaly brutally exposes the truth of modern sexual trafficking in south-east Asia through her own story and that of those she has rescued from slavery. She outlines the beginnings of her non-profit organizations that rescue girls and women from brothels, sketching out plans for their reintegration into society. Free of her physical bonds and able to offer hope to those in chains, she remains a broken woman. The aching sadness created throughout her life’s circumstances is still present; only slightly mitigated by her relentless drive to rescue the weak and defend the defenseless.
She tells her story not to evoke sympathy for herself, though her pain is apparent. She writes, offering herself up to the public eye to draw attention to the plight of the girls and women who are still captive; taken against their will and viciously used. Somaly truly wants nothing for herself other than the opportunity to continue working with the victims of sexual trafficking and to draw awareness to their plight.
Truly, every responsible citizen of the world should engage Somaly’s work. The difficult stories need to be told, more than that - they must be acted upon. Only with eyes opened to the atrocities surrounding us can we step out in faith, reaching into the darkness to rescue those bound there.
Visit the Somaly Mam Foundation to learn how you can make a difference in the lives of those affected by sexual trafficking.
Born in Cambodia during years of political turmoil, Somaly never knew her parents – she still doesn’t know what became of them. Left by her grandmother in a tribal village, her early years were spent outdoors, roaming amongst the huts looking for food. These years were happy compared to those that would follow after leaving northern Cambodia with a man who claimed to know of her parents at the age of six.
This man, her “grandfather” would proceed to beat and molest her, sell her virginity to pay his debts at the age of 11, marry her to an abusive husband at the age of fourteen and finally sell her to a brothel at 16. As you can imagine Somaly’s story is not an easy, feel good read. The list of travesties, betrayals and corruption she has known is far too lengthy to detail here.
Catching glimpses of a better life, Somaly is eventually able to escape from the bondage of sexual slavery. Using the only currency at her disposal she begins to make alliances with foreign men – those with wealth and power – and uses them to begin her slow ascent out of prostitution. After achieving her freedom the girls she left behind haunt her. Knowing the devastation trafficking in girl-flesh wreaks she cannot stand motionless while atrocities are committed; hopefully you won’t be able to either when this story comes to a close.
Presented in spare, matter of fact prose the writing itself mimics the Cambodian attitude towards life; silent, understated. Coming from a people who disguise their emotions to the utmost – simply writing this memoir is a break with traditional Cambodian culture. Somaly however, has long since ceased to be a traditional Cambodian.
The words seek to describe without betraying the depths of emotional pain behind them, but it still seeps through. Between each and every line, in the silences and pauses the pain is there alongside the fear and anger. The Road of Lost Innocence is the anguished soul cry of a woman who has never truly been loved, the heart breaking sobs of a shattered little girl.
Somaly brutally exposes the truth of modern sexual trafficking in south-east Asia through her own story and that of those she has rescued from slavery. She outlines the beginnings of her non-profit organizations that rescue girls and women from brothels, sketching out plans for their reintegration into society. Free of her physical bonds and able to offer hope to those in chains, she remains a broken woman. The aching sadness created throughout her life’s circumstances is still present; only slightly mitigated by her relentless drive to rescue the weak and defend the defenseless.
She tells her story not to evoke sympathy for herself, though her pain is apparent. She writes, offering herself up to the public eye to draw attention to the plight of the girls and women who are still captive; taken against their will and viciously used. Somaly truly wants nothing for herself other than the opportunity to continue working with the victims of sexual trafficking and to draw awareness to their plight.
Truly, every responsible citizen of the world should engage Somaly’s work. The difficult stories need to be told, more than that - they must be acted upon. Only with eyes opened to the atrocities surrounding us can we step out in faith, reaching into the darkness to rescue those bound there.
Visit the Somaly Mam Foundation to learn how you can make a difference in the lives of those affected by sexual trafficking.
Thursday, October 09, 2008
'Call + Response' Raises a Voice Against Human Trafficking [including sex trafficking in Cambodia]
Thursday, October 9, 2008
By DeNeen L. Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
By DeNeen L. Brown
Washington Post Staff Writer
"Call + Response," a documentary that seeks to uncover contemporary human slavery in its many forms, opens with a sequence showing four men in a taxi heading to a bachelor party. They are almost giddy, anticipating what they will do and what will be done to them. The taxi swings through the streets of a nondescript Asian city with neon lights and billboards. As they near their destination, the men become even more excited.
But the viewer senses that something is extra wrong. The men walk up some steps and open a door.
And in the middle of a white bed sits a small girl, head lowered, black hair covering her face. Someone has placed her on the bed to service the men. They are appalled: "What kind of place is this?" one of them asks.
The camera moves quickly out of the dingy room.
Another country, another scene: Indian women in white robes are stacking bricks in a dusty alcove.
One woman, her body bent, stops work and stares at the camera. Her face is a distant blur. For a moment, you wonder if she sees any hope in the fact that a camera is there to peel back the cover on human trafficking, which exists in places where we look but do not see.
A white-shirted overseer steps between the woman and the camera: "If they want to leave, we won't let them. This is how I've run my business for 25 years now," he says, grinning as three women walk past with bricks piled on their heads.
The film, which opens today in two Washington area theaters and next week in two more, is a harrowing "rockumentary" built on difficult images interspersed with musical performances that are meant to give voice to the oppressed -- as music often has -- and spread their cries for freedom. It travels to places both urban and rural to reveal what it calls the world's "27 million dirtiest secrets," 27 million people held in bondage in brothels, fields, factories and homes perhaps not far from yours.
So we see Natasha Bedingfield on a black stage. On a screen behind her, a child digs in the dirt. "Incompatible," Bedingfield sings to the clear acoustics of a guitar. "It don't matter though, 'cause someone's bound to hear my cry." Drawing on the spontaneous call-and-response tradition of African religion and music, director Justin Dillon says the film is a summons to audiences in hope that they will answer by starting a modern abolitionist movement.
The film goes undercover in the brothels of Cambodia, the brick kilns of India and near the dead lakes of Ghana to reveal that in 2008, the slave trade that we hoped was halted in the 1800s with emancipation in the United States and elsewhere is alive and escalating, feeding the dark side of globalization. The State Department estimates that at least 800,000 people of all ages are sold across borders each year, many of them to make products we use, wear or eat without knowing the origin.
"There are more slaves today than ever before in human history," Dillon said in an interview. "In 2007, slave traders made more money than Google, Nike and Starbucks combined."
We keep hoping that his camera will liberate the slaves. Instead, it moves from one terrible scene to the next.
A man with a hidden camera is ushered through the streets of an Asian city, down an alley, through a curtain and into a room where four girls sit. "You can do boom-boom?" he asks the tallest girl.
"Yeah. It's okay," says the girl, who calls herself Yang. Her voice is as certain as if the man had asked for a cup of water.
We listen to child soldiers tell about being made to kill and rape and steal. We sit on the sofa with a woman in Europe who describes how her captors threatened to kill her daughter if she didn't sell her body. We glide along a man-made lake in Ghana. Tree limbs emerge from the water like the fingers of a dead man.
Actress and activist Julia Ormond appears on-screen, explaining that this is "the second largest man-made lake on the planet. When they made the lake, they flooded a certain area but they didn't clear the trees. So . . . the fishermen who go out there, their nets are constantly tangling in the tree stumps." The children are forced to dive down and free the nets. "They discovered the child slavery there," she says, "because of the number of children's bodies that were constantly washing up on the shore."
Ormond explains that some of the lake children have been rescued. The camera, with its hope that more can be rescued, moves inside a classroom, where rescued children sing.
"One of the few things that identified these kids was their inability to smile," Ormond recalled in an interview. "These children sang, 'If you are happy and you know it clap your hands.' And none of them can smile."
Other participants include former secretary of state Madeleine Albright and scholar Cornel West.
In a melodic historical lecture, West tells Dillon why music has been such a strong force of liberation. "The only property slaves had was what? Their voices in their bodies. They held hands and they raised their voices. And call and response. Call and response. Lifting every voice, because at least at that moment you have a power and a dignity," he explains. "In the dark, when you couldn't see each other, all you had was your voices being raised so somebody in the world now or further down the line would hear your voice and recognize you are human, you have a right to be treated a certain kind of way and you are worthy of attention. The worst thing for all of us as human beings to feel is insignificant. Then we experience extinction."
The film pulls back the curtain on what we didn't know -- or believed we didn't know -- about contemporary slavery.
"We have boxes where we put things," Dillon said. "We have a box on slavery that is already . . . put on a shelf because it is history for us, for many people. There really is a new box. Part of the purpose of the film is to help the public open that box."
Often, he said, people who face the horror of human trafficking move from being oblivious to the paralysis of despair. The next thing to set in is apathy.
"It is a cycle of 'I need to see it. I don't want to see it. I need to know about it. I don't want to know about it,' " Dillon said. " 'I'm indignant. I'm upset. But what am I supposed to do about it?' "
Dillon, a musician, said that was his reaction when he became aware of human trafficking while touring with a band in Russia. The women who translated for the musicians told of job offers in the United States and, thinking that their stories didn't add up, Dillon asked to see his translator's contract. They tried calling several times, he said, and when nobody picked up, he warned the translator that those job offers might be a trap.
"We were telling someone, 'Run for your life,' and she was like, 'No, I'll take my chances,' " Dillon recalled. "That's what got me."
When Dillon returned home, he contacted nonprofit agencies that combat human trafficking. "I said, 'I'm a musician. I'm not famous. I'd like to help. I'll do anything I can.' They said, 'What can you do?' I said, 'I can put on a concert, a fundraiser.' "
One concert became several concerts, and they evolved into the film project, paid for with donations. Dillon said that all of the profits will go to projects such as buying a vehicle for a rehab camp that helps child soldiers.
"Our goal is to fund and celebrate projects. We are closing the loop by allowing viewers to become participants in the solution," he said. "We don't let people out of the theaters until they can already begin responding."
Audience members may donate on the spot or request more information. Dillon said the film becomes a social contract, leaving viewers with this question about human slavery:
Now that you know, how will you respond?
But the viewer senses that something is extra wrong. The men walk up some steps and open a door.
And in the middle of a white bed sits a small girl, head lowered, black hair covering her face. Someone has placed her on the bed to service the men. They are appalled: "What kind of place is this?" one of them asks.
The camera moves quickly out of the dingy room.
Another country, another scene: Indian women in white robes are stacking bricks in a dusty alcove.
One woman, her body bent, stops work and stares at the camera. Her face is a distant blur. For a moment, you wonder if she sees any hope in the fact that a camera is there to peel back the cover on human trafficking, which exists in places where we look but do not see.
A white-shirted overseer steps between the woman and the camera: "If they want to leave, we won't let them. This is how I've run my business for 25 years now," he says, grinning as three women walk past with bricks piled on their heads.
The film, which opens today in two Washington area theaters and next week in two more, is a harrowing "rockumentary" built on difficult images interspersed with musical performances that are meant to give voice to the oppressed -- as music often has -- and spread their cries for freedom. It travels to places both urban and rural to reveal what it calls the world's "27 million dirtiest secrets," 27 million people held in bondage in brothels, fields, factories and homes perhaps not far from yours.
So we see Natasha Bedingfield on a black stage. On a screen behind her, a child digs in the dirt. "Incompatible," Bedingfield sings to the clear acoustics of a guitar. "It don't matter though, 'cause someone's bound to hear my cry." Drawing on the spontaneous call-and-response tradition of African religion and music, director Justin Dillon says the film is a summons to audiences in hope that they will answer by starting a modern abolitionist movement.
The film goes undercover in the brothels of Cambodia, the brick kilns of India and near the dead lakes of Ghana to reveal that in 2008, the slave trade that we hoped was halted in the 1800s with emancipation in the United States and elsewhere is alive and escalating, feeding the dark side of globalization. The State Department estimates that at least 800,000 people of all ages are sold across borders each year, many of them to make products we use, wear or eat without knowing the origin.
"There are more slaves today than ever before in human history," Dillon said in an interview. "In 2007, slave traders made more money than Google, Nike and Starbucks combined."
We keep hoping that his camera will liberate the slaves. Instead, it moves from one terrible scene to the next.
A man with a hidden camera is ushered through the streets of an Asian city, down an alley, through a curtain and into a room where four girls sit. "You can do boom-boom?" he asks the tallest girl.
"Yeah. It's okay," says the girl, who calls herself Yang. Her voice is as certain as if the man had asked for a cup of water.
We listen to child soldiers tell about being made to kill and rape and steal. We sit on the sofa with a woman in Europe who describes how her captors threatened to kill her daughter if she didn't sell her body. We glide along a man-made lake in Ghana. Tree limbs emerge from the water like the fingers of a dead man.
Actress and activist Julia Ormond appears on-screen, explaining that this is "the second largest man-made lake on the planet. When they made the lake, they flooded a certain area but they didn't clear the trees. So . . . the fishermen who go out there, their nets are constantly tangling in the tree stumps." The children are forced to dive down and free the nets. "They discovered the child slavery there," she says, "because of the number of children's bodies that were constantly washing up on the shore."
Ormond explains that some of the lake children have been rescued. The camera, with its hope that more can be rescued, moves inside a classroom, where rescued children sing.
"One of the few things that identified these kids was their inability to smile," Ormond recalled in an interview. "These children sang, 'If you are happy and you know it clap your hands.' And none of them can smile."
Other participants include former secretary of state Madeleine Albright and scholar Cornel West.
In a melodic historical lecture, West tells Dillon why music has been such a strong force of liberation. "The only property slaves had was what? Their voices in their bodies. They held hands and they raised their voices. And call and response. Call and response. Lifting every voice, because at least at that moment you have a power and a dignity," he explains. "In the dark, when you couldn't see each other, all you had was your voices being raised so somebody in the world now or further down the line would hear your voice and recognize you are human, you have a right to be treated a certain kind of way and you are worthy of attention. The worst thing for all of us as human beings to feel is insignificant. Then we experience extinction."
The film pulls back the curtain on what we didn't know -- or believed we didn't know -- about contemporary slavery.
"We have boxes where we put things," Dillon said. "We have a box on slavery that is already . . . put on a shelf because it is history for us, for many people. There really is a new box. Part of the purpose of the film is to help the public open that box."
Often, he said, people who face the horror of human trafficking move from being oblivious to the paralysis of despair. The next thing to set in is apathy.
"It is a cycle of 'I need to see it. I don't want to see it. I need to know about it. I don't want to know about it,' " Dillon said. " 'I'm indignant. I'm upset. But what am I supposed to do about it?' "
Dillon, a musician, said that was his reaction when he became aware of human trafficking while touring with a band in Russia. The women who translated for the musicians told of job offers in the United States and, thinking that their stories didn't add up, Dillon asked to see his translator's contract. They tried calling several times, he said, and when nobody picked up, he warned the translator that those job offers might be a trap.
"We were telling someone, 'Run for your life,' and she was like, 'No, I'll take my chances,' " Dillon recalled. "That's what got me."
When Dillon returned home, he contacted nonprofit agencies that combat human trafficking. "I said, 'I'm a musician. I'm not famous. I'd like to help. I'll do anything I can.' They said, 'What can you do?' I said, 'I can put on a concert, a fundraiser.' "
One concert became several concerts, and they evolved into the film project, paid for with donations. Dillon said that all of the profits will go to projects such as buying a vehicle for a rehab camp that helps child soldiers.
"Our goal is to fund and celebrate projects. We are closing the loop by allowing viewers to become participants in the solution," he said. "We don't let people out of the theaters until they can already begin responding."
Audience members may donate on the spot or request more information. Dillon said the film becomes a social contract, leaving viewers with this question about human slavery:
Now that you know, how will you respond?
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