Synopsis
As nations around the globe attempt to fight sex trafficking, many consider legalizing prostitution. Two filmmakers travel across ten countries to explore the issue, attempting to answer the question:
“How can we prevent sexual exploitation before it happens in the first place?”
Though governments are getting better at prosecuting traffickers and providing aftercare to victims, it is time we begin to ask the question of what lies at the root.
Watch the trailer, and bring the film to your home town.
Filmmakers
MICHELLE BROCK, Co-Director & Producer
Michelle Brock is the co-founder of Hope for the Sold, an organization that fights sex trafficking “one word at a time.” After completing her undergraduate degree in political science at the University of Guelph, she received the Millenium Scholarship Grant to make a short film about sex trafficking in Canada. Michelle has written several magazine and newspaper articles about social justice, and blogs regularly at HopeForTheSold.com.
MICHELLE BROCK, Co-Director & Producer
Jared Brock is the co-founder of Hope for the Sold, and the happy husband of Michelle. Together they’ve travelled to almost 40 countries, and have witnessed an incredible amount of beauty and brokenness.
With a background in ministry and marketing, Jared is the creative force working behind-the-scenes via web and social media, and on-stage at conferences and speaking engagements. His dream is to be a writer and filmmaker when he grows up. His first book hits shelves in March of 2015.
MICHELLE BROCK, Co-Director & Producer
Dave McSporran is the owner of Bottled Media, an Ontario-based video production company. A graduate of the Toronto Film school with honours, his work has appeared online and on national TV around the world. More than 6 million viewers have seen his work in the past 5 years.
He’s happily married to Mandy, and totally in love with his adorable baby girl.
Interviewees
Cathy
Cathy is a formerly prostituted woman who speaks regularly at the Los Angeles john school.
MANDY*
Mandy is a sex trafficking survivor from the Netherlands.
ELLE
Elle is a sex trafficking survivor from the U.S.
TOSHIA SHAW
Toshia is a sex trafficking survivor and founder of Purple W.I.N.G.S. (Women Inspiring Noble Girls Successfully), an organization that is devoted to helping at-risk girls in Las Vegas. Their mentor program targets those facing the challenges of poverty, failing or dropping out of school, promiscuity, the sex-trade industry, sex-trafficking, and violence.
HAROLD VAN GELDER
As the team lead of the Amsterdam Police Human Trafficking & Prostitution Unit, Harold van Gelder is responsible for locating trafficking victims and finding pimps who exploit them. His team actively provides support for anyone in Amsterdam’s sex industry who needs help.
SASKIA WISHART
Saskia Wishart is an outreach worker in Amsterdam’s red light district. She has assisted in the launch of social ventures in both South Africa and the Netherlands, and currently works in the Netherlands on an innovative social enterprise that seeks to empower vulnerable women through training and community.
ELINE*
Eline is a sex trafficking survivor from the Netherlands.
MARIANNE JONKER
Marianne Jonker is a former sex worker from Amsterdam, and is board member at the ICRSE (International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe). She also works for the Prostitution Program of STI/HIV Netherlands.
MELISSA FARLEY
Melissa Farley, the executive director of Prostitution Research & Education, is a clinical phsychologist and researcher who has written extensively on prostitution, post traumatic stress, and the buyers of sex. Her research spans two decades and 5 continents, and has been used for policy development in several countries.
ANDREA MATOLCSI
Andrea Matolcsi is the Program Officer for Sexual Violence and Trafficking at Equality Now, an organization that seeks to end violence and discrimination against women and girls around the world.
MAX WALTMAN
Max Waltman, from the Department of Political Science at Stockholm University, has published scholarly and popular media articles on legal challenges to sexual exploitation. His work covers Canada, Sweden, the United States, and international law. Max Waltman participates at international conferences, is consulted by legislative bodies domestically and abroad, and works with feminist groups on policy initiatives. Apart from lecturing publicly on his topic, he currently teaches political theory and comparative politics, and advises bachelor and master students. His most recent article, on the Bedford v. Canada case, will be published in the Harvard Journal of Law and Gender.
JANICE RAYMOND
Janice Raymond, professor emerita of women’s studies and medical ethics at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, is the author of Not a Choice, Not a Job: Exposing the Myths About Prostitution and the Global Sex Trade. Until 2007, she served as the co-executive director of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, a non-governmental organization in consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.
ERIC NEUMAYER
Eric Neumayer is a professor at the London School of Economics, and co-authored a research article about the relationship between legalization of prostitution and human trafficking inflows.
RACHEL LLOYD
Rachel Lloyd, who formerly worked in Germany’s legal sex industry, is the founder of GEMS (Girls Educations & Mentoring Services), America’s largest organization offering direct services to American victims of child sex trafficking. She is a recognized expert on the issue of child sex trafficking in the United States, whose advocacy is the subject of the critically acclaimed documentary Very Young Girls and her memoir Girls Like Us. Her achievements have been highlighted on CNN Anderson Cooper 360, ABC News, NBC News, NPR, as well as in the New York Times, Washington Post, Glamour Magazine, and other media outlets.
JULIANA*
Juliana is a victim who was trafficked from Brazil to Switzerland.
GEORGETTE MULHEIR
Georgette Mulheir is the Chief Executive of Lumos, an organization founded by J.K. Rowling to support the rights of children. Georgette has worked in 17 countries across Europe and Africa, leading large scale programs to transform the lives of thousands of children and their families. She pioneered a model of de-institutionalization now followed in many countries across Central and Eastern Europe, and has advised governments on the reform of their services for children and families. She is the author of four books related to children’s rights, and currently advises the European Commission on the reform of children’s services across the EU.
MICHAEL SHIVELY
Michael Shively is a senior associate at the Cambridge, Massachusetts based research firm Abt Associates, and has spent the past several years gathering information about strategies that reduce demand for prostitution. His work involves a database of at least 825 cities that employ various demand reduction tactics. Michael Shively’s research has produced comprehensive reports for the Department of Justice as well as a website called DEMANDForum.net, that tracks the “anti-demand initiatives” occurring across the United States.
HARMONY DUST
Harmony Dust is the founder and executive director of Treasures, a Los Angeles based nonprofit organization (outreach and support group) for women in the sex industry. She is also the author of Scars & Stilettos, a memoir that describes her own experiences in the sex industry. Harmony has been featured in various media sources, including Glamour Magazine, The Dr. Drew Show & The Tyra Banks Show.
CHRISTOPHER BAUGHMAN
Christopher Baughman is a Nevada human trafficking detective and author of Off the Street, a book outlining his real life experiences of finding and arresting pimps who force women into a life of prostitution in Nevada.
ANDREA SWANSON
Andrea Swanson is the mother of a sex trafficking victim in Las Vegas.
NATE LARKIN
Nate Larkin is a former john and the founder of the Samson Society.
BILL MARGOLIS
Bill Margolis is a retired LAPD Detective and the founder of the Los Angeles John School.
CRAIG GROSS
Craig Gross is the founder of XXXchurch.com and is the author of several books, including Open: What Happens When You Get Real, Get Honest, and get Accountable.
PATRIK CEDERLÖF
Patrik Cederlöf is the National Coordinator of the Swedish National Task Force Against Prostitution/Trafficking in Stockholm.
JONAS TROLLE
Jonas Trolle is the Superintendent of the Stockholm County Police Crime Intelligence Unit. In addition to his involvement in specific human trafficking cases, he has also taken part in anti-trafficking training at the Swedish National Police Academy in Stockholm.
*Some names have been changed to protect the identities of trafficking survivors.