It is absolutely unacceptable that we have a slave trade in the 21st century. It is beyond belief – Emma Thompson
I saw this Fatal Promises on Saturday and I have not stopped thinking about the topic. It’s not because Emma Thompson was there and was so passionate about the issue, it’s because I felt — and still feel — really ignorant on the topic.
To me it’s unfathomable to believe and understand how people can feel that’s it’s ok to sell other people. They sell people and make money at it. All day, every day. This is a huge business. Bigger than arms and drugs, yet we all want to get rid of drugs and keep trying unsuccessfully to deal with the arms topic, but the selling of people — mostly women and girls — just passes us by as we go about our every day lives.
The film tells the story of several people — both men and women — who have escaped from slavery. Yes, they are slaves. It’s not what we think of as slavery, but they are held against their will, lots of time transported to foreign country, lots of time sexually abused, not fed and made to do work that they are not paid for. That’s slavery.
Emma Thompson became moved by the issue because she met a woman, Elena, who worked in a massage parlor on Emma’s street in London. It was a place she and her family passed every day and joked about and behind the glass window was a young woman who was a slave.
Lots of people who are trafficked are women and girls who are forced into sex work. Girls are kidnapped or sold and young women are lured lots of times by other women into situations they can’t escape from. Fundamentally as Emma Thompson said: “I suppose that it has to do with the fact that in the world there is not enough safety for women. Women are not safe in many places and that’s a huge and complex issue but in essence the undervaluing of the female is at the root of all of this.”
As an individual, the whole issue seems so overwhelming because there is so much that is unknown. It’s an underground issue that is about power, sex and money But you can do something. First, think about the people around you. Lots of times people who have been trafficked are hidden in plain sight. If something looks fishy call the cops. Problem is that lots of times the women who have been trafficked are treated like criminals because there are no good laws to deal with persons who are in another country against their will without proper papers.
Another thing to do is to learn about the issue. That’s on my list. If you are in NY go and see this film. It opens tomorrow at the Cinema Village.
In November, Emma Thompson who is the chair of the Helen Bamber Foundation an organization that works with survivors of human rights abuses, will bring to NY Journey an installation that “bring the reality of the sex trafficking industry to the forefront of social consciousness and empower people to take action. Shackles bind perpetrators to victims, and victims to the punters who exploit them.”
Here are some tidbits (courtesy of Charlotte Cooper and her Flip Cam) from Emma and director Kat Rohrer talking about the issue after the screening on Saturday.
You can check out the trailer for the film on the Fatal Promises site
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Thanks for this post. Kat has done a great job and this is an issue we all need to learn more about, especialy ways we all can help end slavery.
John Berger
The Emancipation Network
http://www.madebysurvivors.com/
I agree with Thompson and add my slogan:
until we eradicate sexism, all other isms thrive.
To your comment about being shocked-
Really? I must be incredibly jaded or I’m looking at the 1% wealthiest in the world knowing that they are mostly clueless about the fact that they are using up sooooooo much more than everyone else combined. By clueless, I don’t mean too stupid to know or ignorant. I mean they just don’t care.
We aren’t reaching them in a way that can change their minds and lifestyles.
When so many have so little and work so hard, the abuse trickles down. It perpetuates crimes against humanity, like slavery. So many married women are slaves (not trafficked, not considered slavery) in many countries- they have no rights, their husbands have all rights over them, before that it’s their fathers, or the church or the govt., they have no personal rights. Rape is not considered a crime in too many countries. Too many women do not get to choose who they are having sex with, and they aren’t part of the slavery statistics.
A wealthy, pampered actress who comes across as humble in comparison to her colleagues, is one very small pebble in an ocean of ignorance…I hope it makes a big ripple.
Definitely a film I hope I get the chance to see. I love documentaries. I admire Emma Thompson for taking up this issue of human trafficking with such commitment and passion.
Thanks that was a interesting post!
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