Movies
Human Trafficking, Lifetime Movies, 2005 A young, single mother and waitress from Prague falls for a handsome stranger. A beautiful teen auditions in Ukraine to be a model. In the Philippines, a 12-year-old American girl is intrigued by a local boy peddling bracelets. What do these three unsuspecting individuals have in common? They’re being lured into an international sex-trafficking ring run by ruthless criminals.
The lives of these victims and others who have been abducted will never be the same; while locked away they’ll be forced into prostitution, see their families threatened and worse. It’s up to a rookie Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, her seasoned boss and his team to bust this operation and rescue these people. This movie is at many Blockbusters, and really shows the different faces of human trafficking. It is a good start to understanding human trafficking.
Bangkok Girl, 2005 Documentary on Thailand Jordan Clark’s tragic documentary provides a glimpse into Thailand’s notorious and booming sex tourism industry through the experiences of a 19-year-old bar girl named Pla. Working in the bars from the age of thirteen, Pla has managed to avoid selling her body–a remarkable revelation given her surroundings–but her refusal to take part in this all-too-common profession for young Thai women cannot last. The introduction of falangs, or foreigners, to Thailand has forever changed the city, the economy, the Thai people’s lives and desires. A daring and unabashed look at a popular Western predilection through the eyes of one girl, this film challenges the accepted worldwide practice of sex tourism. This film is recommended for Asian Studies, Women’s Studies, and Human Rights accompaniment.
Trading Women, 2003 Documentary on Burma, Thailand, on Trafficking of women and the drug trade
TRADING WOMEN is a documentary that investigates the trade in minority girls and women from Burma, Laos and China into the Thai sex industry. The culmination of 5 years of field research, the film shatters Western myths about the sex trade: “Its part of their culture to sell their daughters;” “The problem is the parents;” “It’s because of Western sex tours;” “They sell girls for TVs.” The film shows that, in reality, trafficked hill tribe girls do not land in the bar streets of Bangkok that cater to Westerners — known to tourists, journalists and film-goers alike. They move into a world, far more hidden, and, as one character in the film says, “far more sinister” And far more likely to infect them with HIV/AIDS.
