Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Wednesday Review: Trade

Trade is a hard movie to watch. It's rated R for good reason. All the "things" you would expect to see in an "R" movie are there. But it needs to be watched.

Trade is based on an article in the NY Times, covering the sex slave trade industry from Mexico in to the U.S. The movie follows two girls: a 13 year old from Mexico City and a 20 something year old mother from Poland. The 13 year old is kidnapped just yards from her home, off her bicycle. The 20 year old is brought to Mexico believing she will be working as a model. Quickly they are secretly transported over the border, into the U.S. for the purpose of being sold over the internet. The brother of the 13 year old is following her, along with a Texas cop hoping to find his daughter missing for 10 years. They join forces and learn about the sex trade industry. What they (and you, the viewer) learn is that it is a billion dollar industry, rampant in the U.S. alone and going on where you least expect it. It is real. It is disturbing.

In this months Christianity Today magazine Kay Warren wrote an article about her introduction into the slave trade when she was in Cambodia. She and some friends were told they needed to visit and area of the city called Svey Pak or the street of the Little Flowers. There girls as young as seven were being peddled in the thriving prostitution trade. 

International Justice Mission is an organization seeking "justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression." There are many ways to get involved and I'm hoping to do so with the youth group at our church. Right now I know I can pray.

1 comment:

Lyn said...

Hello! You might be interested in checking out Just Courage, the latest book by Gary Haugen, founder of IJM. As your heart is stirred for the work of justice, the book would be a great accompaniment of that journey..Thanks for sharing your thoughts! Lyn from IJM HQ