Film of the month

April 2015

10 Countries with the Most Slaves (short film from Walk Free Foundation)

March 2015

Slavery is closer than you think – watch the new Modern Slavery campaign TV advert to find out more

February 2015

25 Painfully Disturbing Facts About Human Trafficking

January 2015

The Long Night, a feature film by Tim Matsui and MediaStorm, gives voice and meaning to the crisis of minors who are forced and coerced into the American sex trade.

December 2014

MTV Exit Programme Short film on Labour Exploitation from their series on Anti- Trafficking films

November 2014

Rebranded: how Survivors Ink is erasing the marks of the US sex trafficking industry

October 2014

Modern Slavery in Electronics: Facts About Slave-Mined Conflict Minerals from the Congo

September 2014

Slavery and the Qatar 2022 World Cup

'Love Football Hate Slavery' Campaign - Walk Free Foundation

Squalid, overcrowded accommodation. Brutally long days working in the blistering heat. Regular abuses of rights such as having passports withheld or being lied to about the nature of promised work.

This is the everyday reality for migrant workers in Qatar helping to bring us the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Worse still, recent reports show that workers from Nepal and India are dying in record numbers on Qatari construction sites since the country won its World Cup bid.

FIFA has pledged to do more to improve the “unacceptable” situation for workers on World Cup-related projects, but these words have yet to be followed by action.

The Walk Free Foundation are running the 'Love Football Hate Slavery' Campaign, calling on FIFA to take responsibility for awarding the World Cup to a country with historic issues of worker exploitation and forced labour. Learn more about the campaign here

August 2014

'The Fighter' - Trailer

CNN Freedom Project

The CNN Freedom Project produces original reports, articles, and documentaries on human trafficking in all of its forms - from debt bondage in India to sex trafficking rings in Southern California and African slaves in the Sinai desert. In addition, the production team curates digital resources with information on global advocacy groups working against human slavery. Users of www.cnn.com/freedom can find details on how to support or volunteer with anti-slavery organisations, watch CNN Freedom Project videos, and read in-depth articles and behind-the-scenes reporters' notebook stories from the journalists reporting for CNN Freedom Project investigations.

"The Fighter" is a documentary made by the CNN Freedom Project, that tells the story of the anti-trafficking heroine Cecilia Oebanda of the Visayan Forum, as she tries to persuade boxing's biggest name in the Phillipines to join her fight.

July 2014

'Our Girl'

Animage Films

Our Girl from Animage Films on Vimeo.

Forced Marriage transcends more than one culture and is prevalent all over the world including in the UK.

'Our Girl' is a three minute film aimed at getting communities talking and acting towards putting a stop to forced marriage. The film is part animated and it features several filmed scenarios, all based on true cases of forced marriage.

'Our Girl' was made by Animage Films in partnership with the Forced Marriage Unit and AVA (Against Violence and Abuse). The film was written and directed by Ruth Beni and animated by the Oscar nominated artist Erica Russell.

The film will be disseminated by specialist organisations in their work with communities and young people, as well as help raise public awareness with the clear message that forcing someone to marry is a breach of basic human rights and is now a criminal offence in the UK.

Accompanying 'Our Girl' is 'True Stories' a six minute film with extended dramatised interviews based real testimonies from Forced Marriage victims. To view this film click here

June 2014

Sold or Saved - Stella's Voice

Stella's Voice is the last cry that remains from an orphaned girl who was sold, used, and dead from AIDS by 19. There is no one in the entire world more vulnerable to sex trafficking than orphaned girls; no one knows or cares when they disappear into the night. And there is no country that fuels the engine of sex trafficking in all of Europe more than Moldova.

Stella's Voice provides a home for poverty-ridden girls in Moldova after they are aged out of the state-run orphanages at the young age of 16.

May 2014

'1.2 Million Children' by Effie Pappa

1.2 million children are bought and sold across international borders each year. The majority of these victims are forced into the commercial sex trade. The animation short '1.2 Million Children' focuses on human trafficking through the sight of an African child who pursues the dream of freedom and becomes a victim of the tragic statistic.

Effie Pappa was born in Igoumenitsa, Greece, where she took her first lessons in drawing, ancient theatre, piano and classical dance. She graduated in Athens (Technological Educational Institute of Athens), in Graphic Design & Animation. Her first animation film '1.2 Million Children', concerning human trafficking, has been officially selected for the Drama Film Festival, Balkanima, and Anim'est, and broadcast by Athenian TV channels and cinemas.

For more animations and information, visit her vimeo account

April 2014

MTV EXIT 'Stop Human Trafficking' Indonesia

MTV EXIT is a campaign to combat human trafficking and exploitation through a mix of live events, innovative video content, and youth engagement. Harnessing the power of the MTV brand, MTV EXIT has one vision: to help end modern slavery through the design and implementation of innovative campaigns that equip young people to make informed, empowered decisions.

This three-minute film was produced for MTV EXIT by Mahidhara Creative Works and Gravitasi Film to raise awareness of the problem of human trafficking in Indonesia, and to communicate three key messages to young people considering travelling abroad:

1. Don't rush. Ask questions.

2. Don't trust everyone.

3. Don't give up your stuff.

To learn more about MTV EXIT, click here

March 2014

Lakshmi

Official Trailor

Nearly 44, 000 children are abducted in India every year, a quarter of whom are never traced. Most probably wind up in the sex trade. That’s the background for this powerful social protest film, which is inspired by a true story. Thirteen-year-old Lakshmi (singer Monali Thakur) is abducted along with several other girls. Taken to a brothel, she learns how to survive from a more experienced roommate. But Lakshmi is not ready to accept her fate. Her repeated attempts to escape only serve to remind her of the futility of her situation, until one day the appearance of a social worker offers a ray of hope.

The film was first viewed by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in November 2013, which found some scenes "objectionable" and stated it had to be next viewed by a revising committee. However, by early January the film had still not received a viewing by committee and thus missed its January 17 Indian premiere date.

Ahead of its release in India, the film had its premiere on January 13, at the 2014 Palm Springs International Film Festival, where it received critical accalim and won the Audience Award for Best narrative feature, which is based on viewers' votes.

January 2014

Italy's Shocking Underground Trade in Female Sex Slaves

Journeyman Pictures

In a 2013 UN report, an expert on human trafficking has called on Italy to do more to confront the problem. Italy's geographical location and long coastline make it particularly vulnerable to people smugglers and the country is both a destination and transit point for victims of trafficking from Eastern Europe and Africa.

After an extensive study on the issue in Italy, UN Special Rapporteur Joy Ezeilo said she had concluded that the situation was worsening.

She cited cases in which victims had been forced into the sex trade or become forced labourers. Mrs Ezeilo says traffickers are not afraid to use horrific violence against their victims

"The impunity of traffickers and their daring ability now to mete out violence in order to keep the trafficked persons for their own exploitative purposes is one that is becoming more dangerous," she said.

She said there were thousands of victims and that the country still lacked a co-ordinated national strategy to tackle the issue.

Learn more about human trafficking in Italy in the 2013 Trafficking Persons Report compiled by the US Department of State

December 2013

End Human Trafficking and Slavery

Not For Sale Campaign

David Batstone wrote the book Not For Sale in 2007 and subsequently founded the Not For Sale Campaign. Not For Sale fights modern-day slavery around the world using business creation, supply chain evaluation and aftercare aid. By creating enterprise opportunities for vulnerable communities, offering social services to survivors and those at-risk to human trafficking, and evaluating the use of forced labour in mainstream supply chains, Not For Sale works to ensure that no-one is for sale.

Not For Sale runs rehabilitation centres for victims of trafficking in Thailand, Peru, the Netherlands, India, South Africa and Romania. Not For Sale creates mass-market product opportunities to generate jobs and provide skills trainings for at-risk individuals and survivors of human trafficking in order to address economic vulnerability in highly enslaved communities. Not For Sale assesses the role of specific brands in the global rise of forced labour, offers resources to companies to improve their supply chains, and informs consumers of the social impact behind their purchases by publishing easily accessible information.

For more information visit the Not For Sale Campaign website

November 2013

'Angie's Story' taken from feature film Not My Life

Documentary made by Robert Bilheimer

Sex trafficking in Oklahoma and throughout the United States is an extension of organized crime manned by gangs who operate territories. Girls are regularly transported from city to city, state to state, where they are sold, traded, used to pay off debts, or served up as a gift to other gang members. Recruiters seek out troubled girls, many of whom have been physically or sexually assaulted at home. These girls are lured into the world of sex trafficking with promises of money, designer clothes and exotic travel only to discover they owe a debt that can never be satisfied. Others are drugged and abducted, never to be seen again.

'Angie's story' is an extract from the feature length documentary film Not my Life, made by Robert Bilheimer. Filmed on five continents, in a dozen countries, Not My Life takes viewers into a world where millions of children are exploited, every day, through an astonishing array of practices including forced labor, domestic servitude, begging, sex tourism, sexual violence, and child soldiering.

To learn more about the film, visit the film's website

October 2013

Witness: Illuminating the World of Modern-Day Slavery

Lisa Kristine at TEDxMaui

Acclaimed humanitarian photographer Lisa Kristine creates more than images, she inspires change. A master storyteller, Lisa documents indigenous cultures in more than 100 countries on six continents, instinctively identifying the universal human dignity in all of us. Awakening compassion and igniting action in a worldwide audience with powerful, broad-sweeping images of courage and tender, intimate portrayals, Lisa elevates significant social causes—such as the elimination of human slavery and the unification of humanity—to missions.Her work resonates in the hearts of us all and moves us to act.

The October TLG Film of the Month is her compelling TED appearence talking about modern-day slavery.

September 2013

Flesh: Bought and Sold in the U.S.

Trailer

The feature film 'Flesh' is a shocking documentary that calls into question our definitions of slavery, human trafficking, and prostitution in the United States. This is a story told by girls who have escaped and by those still enslaved. It is told by former and current pimps. It is told by the abolitionists of today, including numerous directors of non-profit organizations, a former U.S. Ambassador, LAPD vice and the L.A. City Task Force on Human Trafficking.

'Flesh' delves into the causes of trafficking in the U.S. Why the demand for the supply of new flesh? Why must pimps rotate their prostitutes between cities and states? Why must new and younger girls be forced into the system? The interviews give voice to those in the business of prostitution and to those seeking to end it. Together they offer startling perspectives on what drives trafficking here in the U.S.

August 2013

Warning Signs

MTV EXIT Foundation

This short animated film highlights the strategies human traffickers use to lure victims into slavery and the warning signs to look out for. Victims of trafficking are modern-day slaves, forced, defrauded, or coerced by organised crime syndicates into various forms of labour, or prostitution. It happens everyday, in countries all around the world.

For more information visit www.mtvexit.org

July 2013

How the Sex Trafficking Industry is Evolving

An interview with Lydia Cacho

Lydia Cacho is a Mexican journalist, feminist, and human rights activist. Described by Amnesty International as "perhaps Mexico’s most famous investigative journalist and women’s rights advocate", Cacho's reporting focuses on violence against and sexual abuse of women and children.

In her book: Slavery Inc. - The Untold Story of International Sex Trafficking published in 2012 Lydia Cacho writes extensively about global sex trafficking as illegal, inhuman, and impervious to recession, and the one trade that continues to thrive, just out of sight. The international sex trade criss-crosses the entire globe, a sinister network made up of criminal masterminds, local handlers, corrupt policemen, wilfully blind politicians, eager consumers, and countless hapless women and children. In this ground-breaking work of investigative reporting, Cacho follows the trail of the traffickers and their victims from Mexico to Turkey, Thailand to Iraq, Georgia to the UK, to expose the trade's hidden links with the tourist industry, internet pornography, drugs and arms smuggling, the selling of body organs, money laundering, and even terrorism. This is an underground economy in which a sex slave can be bought for the price of a gun, but Cacho's powerful first-person interviews with mafiosi, pimps, prostitutes, and those who managed to escape from captivity makes it impossible to ignore the terrible human cost of this lucrative exchange. Shocking and sobering, Slavery Inc, is an exceptional book, both for the colossal scope of its enquiry, and for the tenacious bravery with which Cacho pursues the truth.

Cacho is the winner of numerous international awards for her journalism, including the Civil Courage Prize, the Wallenberg Medal, and the Olof Palme Prize. In 2010 she was named World Press Freedom Hero of the International Press Institute.

June 2013

Sex Trafficking: How it Works

A documentary film by Mimi Chakarova

Photojournalist Mimi Chakarova has kindly given us her permission to feature her work on our website. How It Works explores the dark underworld of sex trafficking in Eastern Europe.

This film is particularly relevant to the Two Little Girls campaign in East Europe as during our three year campaign we have seen at first hand the scale of this harrowing trade in women’s misery.

See more of Mimi’s powerful work in the multimedia series at http://priceofsex.org/content/multimedia

Produced by Mimi Chakarova and Carrie Ching. Edited by Carrie Ching.