CE Week #5: “‘Trade’ both scary and shameful”
James P. Pinkerton
Newsweek
October 2, 2007
Do you ever find yourself in a scary situation where you start spontaneously reciting the 23rd Psalm? You know, “The Lord is my shepherd … “?
Well, a new movie, “Trade,” gave me the shuddering feeling that I needed protection from wickedness – that we all do, that America does.
“Trade,” starring Kevin Kline, opening Friday, is a fictionalized look – sometimes lurid, always harrowing and, by the end, profoundly spiritual – at the sex-trafficking industry, demonstrating clear and present danger to our national well-being.
The genesis of “Trade” was a 9,000-word article by Peter Landesman appearing in The New York Times Magazine on Jan. 25, 2004. Landesman chronicled the international sex-trafficking business, stretching from Eastern Europe to Mexico to such ordinary places as Plainfield, N.J., where in 2002 police raided a house and rescued four Mexican girls, ages 14 to 17, working as sex slaves.
That’s sex slaves, not prostitutes.
Landesman described an interior that was the “land-based equivalent of a 19th-century slave ship, with rancid, doorless bathrooms, bare, putrid mattresses; and a stash of penicillin, ‘morning after’ pills and misoprostol, an anti-ulcer medication that can induce abortion.”
This was here in America.
Landesman cited government estimates suggesting that there could be as many as 50,000 such sex slaves in the United States, although nobody really knows; as a State Department official told him, “We’re not finding victims in the United States because we’re not looking for them.”
The reaction to Landesman’s article has been revealing. Left-libertarians, who take their political cues from the American Civil Liberties Union, savaged the article. Jack Shafer, writing the “Press Box” column for Slate.com at the time, launched a fusillade against Landesman’s truthfulness.
Last Sunday, The Washington Post presented a front-page article finding that only 1,362 such cases have been identified by authorities since 2000. This story inspired Shafer to follow up with yet another piece attacking Landesman and “Trade,” headlined, “The Sex-Slavery Epidemic That Wasn’t.”
If one were conspiratorial, one would say there’s been an organized campaign to minimize the sex-trafficking problem on the eve of the movie’s release.
Some might say that 1,362 is a big number when human beings are involved. The fate of the “Jena 6″ – the six black Louisiana teenagers involved in a racially tinged brawl – has provoked a national outcry. That’s the way we are, or should be; we should care about each other, and we should worry about injustice, wherever it is found, in whatever quantity.
In a recent interview, Landesman defended his credibility, as well as the plot line of “Trade.” While the story is fictional, all the “mechanics of sex trafficking” depicted in the movie – the kidnapping in Mexico, the transporting across the border, the online auctioning of girls for sexual exploitation – are “100 percent true.”
As for the number of only 1,362?
“For every case they know about, there have to be hundreds they don’t,” Landesman answered. “How many kilos of imported cocaine do the feds actually see?”
For my part, I will say this: If the number of sex-trafficked girls – and boys – is greater than zero, we have a problem. Specifically, we are suffering from a criminal and moral cancer that will force us to take an even harder look at border security, and perhaps also the use of the Internet for nefarious purposes.
Alas, “Trade” is likely to get trashed for political reasons. Already, Variety has slammed it, worrying that the film will “further the psychic and political divide between the U.S. and Mexico.”
Even as the critics rage, “Trade” is worth seeing. But it wouldn’t hurt to remember the sacred words: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.”
Because you will need some moral or psychic armor. And then steely resolve to fix this shameful problem.
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Being the avid Oprah viewer that I am (much less now than last year when I was unemployed) I have seen several special reports on the matter of sex-trafficking in the United States and abroad. I don’t really find this article shocking. What is happening to these girls (and boys for that matter) is absolutely grotesque and ridiculous.
There was a special report that sticks out more in my mind than others, one in which news reporters found young children, most under the age of eleven in a dingy basement, they were sex slaves. Picked off the streets when they were still very young and impressionable they were brainwashed into working as slaves for men. At the end of the newscast they showed where the kids were now, all in school and out of the dingy basement, but still, the fact that they had been there in the first place doesn’t sit well with me.
In America issues such as this tend to be pushed aside, the Jena Six were disregarded for several months before Al Sharpton and his army arrived. It takes a massive force to get behind an issue and push for it to come into the public eye and get solved. I think someone should step up, perhaps after seeing this new movie and figure out how to stop the 1,362 children and young adults from being slaves. Obviously it’s a sensitive issue, one that many will continue to ignore is even happening, but something needs to be done and be done soon before more are effected by this issue.
Reading this article makes me want to go see that movie now. It looks like a good movie except for that all of the information may not be accurate. Even if this whole thing isn’t true, I’m sure it can still make a good movie. So this Shafer guy says there has only been 1,632 cases of sex slavery since 2000 and not 50,000 cases. And the Landesman guy says we don’t know how many more there could be because we aren’t looking for them. If he is right, we better start looking for them now because even 1,632 is a startling number for me to swallow. The thought of this sex-trafficking business is just sickening. This makes me hope the other guy is right about it all even though I don’t think that can make the issue go away. With the studies that he found, Shafer headlined “The Sex Slavery Epidemic That Wasn’t.“ I look at Shafer’s information and see it as proving that there is a problem, it just may not be quite as huge as Landesman thought it to be. The headline should have been more along the lines of “Small Trade.”
I can’t say that I’ve ever recited any part of the bible, but I wouldn’t mind seeing this film… maybe it can be an extra credit option Mr. Kautzman… 20 extra credit points for a ticket stub? Or possibly another political type movie?
Anyway, I agree with the writer of this article. Zero would be an appropiate number. For children, exspecially the young ones at a vernable age, and even teens my age that can be an occurance that would scar anyone, beyond repair. That isn’t something you can recover from, not only being forced to have sex but then being forced to have abortions. Why aren’t people outraged, and I agree that you have to look at it like this: Not even half the people who do meth get caught, think about all the coke that sneaks across the border the feds don’t catch, think about for every high school alcoholic party that gets busted, there is probably at least 10 that don’t, if not more.
So howmany do we not know about, we need at least a team of 20 police officers dedicated to finding these young people. This is a horrible scarring form of abuse on children. It’s sick, and no pervert has the right to lock underaged children in a room and use them for sex, even if they are illegals.
Wow, I was surprised this article had no comments (perhaps they haven’t been monitored yet). I was mainly surprised because the topic of this is “sex” and let’s face it sex gets peoples attention—it got mine. Not only that but it keys on a movie called “Trade.” I have not seen this movie but I will put it on my go-see list. I found this article rather odd and evasive. I questioned what a “sex slave” was. He said it is not prostitution so I felt like doing some research and looked at movie reviews. This movie didn’t get the best reviews but it cleared up what a sex slave is. Sex slaves are mostly young children kidnapped off the street and sold to wealthy pedophiles. This epidemic Pinkerton is talking about haunts me, we need to start looking for these low life scum. “We’re not finding victims in the United States because we’re not looking for them.” I don’t know if I can say that’s a fair comment. I don’t think you can look for something that you didn’t know existed. I had no idea anything like this was going on. 1,362 such cases have been identified by authorities since 2000 and there has been little news on the topic. This seems to be a hidden problem that needs to get more attention—I know it got mine.
-Caitlin Barschig
O.K. So I’d just like to begin by saying how much I love Kevin Kline. He’s great. You’ll all see that eventually, when we watch, “Dave.” Yeah, whatta great guy.
But on a more serious note, sex-trafficking. That’s some scary stuff, and the statistics will always be contentious because that’s the nature of statistics. Regardless, I think we do have a problem in this country, and reading this article I was consumed by the thought of how much legalizing prostitution would help the situation. If prostitution were legal do you really think dirty old men and women would want to break the law to get some hoochy-cooch when they could do the same, probably at a similar price, within the limits of the law? There are many benefits of decriminalizing prostitution (a stance I’m willing to defend) but one of them, surely one of the heaviest, is keeping poor little girls and boys from having to become sex slaves in the “land-based equivalent of a 19th-century slave ship.”
Wow this article was a little weird. So I guess this movie “Trade” is fiction but based on something that is actually happening about the United Sates. No, we have some pretty screwed up people in this country but that’s really bad. Now when I hear about things like this, it makes me wonder why is more not being done to stop things like this. I do understand that there are many thing wrong, but people lives are basically being ruined because of things like this. This makes me pretty angry. Then on top of this why do people try and refute things like this especially when they are true. Are they just trying to deny what is actually happening? I think people should start to realize what is going on and try to help some things and maybe stop things like this that are happening. As of right now I wonder what is being done to try and stop incidents like this from continuing. Also I wonder how hard it would be to make these attempts even stronger because there is no reason why things like this should ever be happening. Also if things like this are happening you know there has to be even worse things that are happening which is really disturbing.
An estimated 1400 cases of sex-trafficking have been identified by authorities since 2000. “This was here in America.” An estimated 1400 cases! And that is only the identified ones. Just the thought of sex slaves is appalling, but even more so due to the fact that for every one that is reported, there are hundreds that are not. It’s sad and a little aggravating to think that we have this type of stuff happening here in the United States. Pinkerton states in the article that if the number of cases is any greater than one, we have a problem. He says that we are suffering from a moral cancer that will cause us to watch borders a little closer next time. Next time? If we haven’t watched that closely up to this point, what makes ‘next time’ any different. “We’re not finding victims in the United States because we’re not looking for them.” I think that sometimes we just choose to be oblivious to this kind of stuff because it makes it easier, one less thing to worry about. Now, while this is a big issue, it’s not going to just take care of itself, and ignoring it is not going to cease it any sooner. Maybe “Trade” will cause a big enough scuttle to get something done because quite frankly this is just not ok. And it’s hard to follow the words, “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil”, when you know what goes on in the world.
The problem is shameful, but not invisible. If we really want this to stop– and I will make no hesitation in assuming that we all have the same policy on the issue of sex slaves– then I feel like the solution really is in the hands of citizens. We already have laws against this sort of thing, all we need to do is enforce them. The way to prevent this sort of thing is with the help of responsible, alert citizens. This goes for sex trafficking, meth labs, coke dealers, and arms-dealers. Crime is crime, no matter what race the offender.
A film like “Trade” will not deepen the differences between America and Mexico– quite the opposite! Nations unite against injustice, people unite against injustice; fighting crime and protecting the innocent are the cornerstones of any modern, reasonable society. It’s the same reason people like Law & Order and CSI, because they love to see the transgressors of horrible, unspeakable crimes brought to retribution. When I watch Law & Order, I wince at the sordid details, but I feel vindicated, righteous even, when I see the scum get put behind bars. And if the guy does get away with the crime, someone rushes him on the steps of the courthouse and shoots him. I’m not saying that’s the right thing to do, I’m simply saying that it’s human to seek justice, and it’s something we all share. Additional thoughts?
So I did a quick internet search of the movie Trade, and it has recieved mixed reviews; according to what some critics have to say, the film is too disturbing. But honestly, this subject is very disturbing and hard to even think about- young people, kidnapped from their homes, and sold into the illegal sex trade market right here in the U.S., what is not disturbing about that? While I consider myself to be relatively informed on various domestic problems, I did not know this was an issue here in the U.S. I would think that the illegal sex trade (of minors especially) would be a bigger focus amongst the citizens, the government, and especially the media but I guess I am wrong. I hear on the news all the time about sex offenders and child pornography charges, but I try to think of watching any news story about illegal sex trade in the U.S., and my mind draws a blank. Human trafficking is a multi-billion dollar business, with- according to one article I read-the U.S. harboring over 10,000 of an estimated 800,000 human slaves around the world. A human life cannot and should not be bought and sold against their will into slavery. Conquering this problem ought to be higher on the U.S.’s to do list.
Ok… it is hard for me to imagine a fate worse than being a victim of sex trafficking. In fact, I can’t even begin to imagine it at all. I remember reading an article on the sex slave trade and being completely shocked that something so horrifying could happen to such young girls. I must have grossly underestimated the disgusting acts of which man is “capable”… The article relayed the story of a young American teen kidnapped from her home and forced immediately into some compromising situtations. She was solicited to every night and kept locked in a small dog kennel when she was not needed. This went on for a long period of time and there were other girls as well. While any type of sex trafficking is completely disturbing, it is even scarier for me to think that what went on in the article I mentioned, or the one posted on this blog, occured in AMERICA. It makes me sick to think of the emotional, not to mention physical battles that the victims of these horrendous crimes they deal with. The one estimate mentioned that there could be up to 50,000 sex-slaves in the United States, and we have only found 1,362. 1 victim is more than enough. I will definitely be looking more into this and finding out if there is a way to help…
Also, this link to the “Diary of a Sex Slave” is very “eye-opening”, but nevertheless informative: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/10/10/MNGN9LFHRO1.DTL
First off I have to laugh at the “Anti-spam” words we have to type in. I mean honestly, who came up with them?Anyways, I have to say that I completely agree with Caitlin, it’s really sad that America is just now finding out about this horrible crime. It’s been going on for who knows how long and still continues. Right now some where in America there is a poor little girl (or boy) locked in some basement begging for their life, and we are turning our heads the other way. I researched this and the Center for Missing and Exploited Children estimated that 80% of runaway and missing juvenile girls end up being exploited in the sex trade, that’s in the US. That’s a very large percentage for any country, but the US? We pride ourselves in being one of the safest countries out there. It’s really just hard to imagine that this crime has gone unnoticed. I think that this issue needs to be brought to the attention of Americans, even more so than it is now. Hopefully this movie Trade will open some people’s eyes. Just by reading some of the posts of fellow classmates it’s obvious that this issue will catch people’s attention in all the right ways. Maybe if the parents of these runaways and citizens knew more about this issue and that it is a serious problem, maybe more things will be done to help stop it. But that just helps with the human trafficking going on in the US. What about the trafficking coming from outside of our borders? Well if it was up to Mr. W, we’d invade and bomb them, but I’m sure there are ways to save these poor victims from their tragic futures. Hopefully this movie opens the eyes of many, and saves many lives.
Haha, I agree with you there, Jackie, I had to type “nospam” as my word and I believe that is the third time this week that I got the same word.
Anyway, I’ve actually known about this issue for some time. I’ve seen documentaries in Europe, where a team of police break into an old warehouse or hotel to find the whole building heavily guarded and swarming with terrified girls that are being used by men almost every other hour. It’s disgusting.
These girls are sold under the table at public places, like it was said earlier, to wealthy pedophiles. I haven’t heard much about boys being taken, but I do know the problem is strong, especially in Europe.
And yes, Jackie, you are correct in saying that citizens need to know more about this. However, I’m almost wondering if citizens aren’t willing to accept the issue at hand. Like they are avoiding it because of what it is.
With today’s society, I wouldn’t be surprised if “ignorance is bliss” has taken over the minds of the people in the world.
Response to Sjol
So I know that Mr. Kautzman said not to respond to posts that we agree with, but I agree with the class censuses that sex trafficking is wrong, and that even one case of sex-biased slavery is not ok in the US or anywhere else. One post that I do want to specifically address is Jordan’s, you said that “I think we do have a problem in this country, and reading this article I was consumed by the thought of how much legalizing prostitution would help the situation.” I personally disagree with this statement because we aren’t just talking about having an abundance of illegal prostitutes, we are talking about people being taken and sold as slaves. Even if prostitution was legal, I don’t think it would help the number of people, especially children, being taken as sex slaves. This brings up another point, most of those we have talked about have been too young to be having sex with adults, so even if prostitution were legal, there would still be an age of consent, and people “trading” in those too young to take part in it legally. Basically, I would like you to further explain how legalizing prostitution would do anything other than cause more people to think it is ok and to take part.
Andrew Barnes
Jordan brings up an interesting point. I had never considered the option of legalizing prostitution as a deterrent for child sex-trafficking. In this case, it is choosing the lesser of two evils, or even more appropriately expressed, fighting fire with fire. However, I do not know if legalizing prostitution would be the most effective solution, not so much for moral reasons (because neither act is moral, in my opinion), but for the sake of practicality. There are people who elicit sex in general, and then there are people who elicit sex specifically from children. What is a pedophile? It is an adult who is sexually attracted to children, not other adults. People are not purchasing child-sex slaves because prostitution is illegal or prostitutes are in short supply; they are purchasing child-sex slaves because they desire to do so. Essentially, legalizing prostitution would do very little to deter child sex-trafficking because it does not address the core issue: these people want to have sex with children, not just sex in general. I see reversing the law against prostitution as only encouraging depraved behavior in an already seriously immoral country.
I’m going to have to reply to Jordan, because legalizing prostution so did not come to mind when I read this article, but I definitely see his point. I do think it might make some what of a dent on the sex slave industry, because perhaps there wouldn’t be such a large demand, but I don’t think that its the solution.
If someone wants to solicit themself that way, sure, why not? I mean, really, except looking trashy and possible spreading some diseases, they’re not really hurting anyone. But typically, how often do you see little girls and boys walking the red light district? Not often. I think this kind of thing is most popular with the sickos who want children. I mean, if someone really really needs to find a prostitute, most of the time they’ll find one and get what they need without having to order a sex slave. These are children being sold for this purpose, and I don’t think legalizing prostituion would stop that. (If that makes no sense, I’m sorry, I just took some medicine and its late and I’m sick and I really can’t seem to hit the right keys.)
And how sad is it that this didn’t completely shock me? I mean, our world is a messed up place, and I’m sure this kind of thing has been going on for a really long time, we’re just paying more attention. Paying more attention, but not spending enough time doing something about it. Though, aside from arresting a lot of people (which won’t do much good because we can’t get them all) I don’t know how problem as old and as far reaching as this one can be solved. It’ll take a while.
In response to J. Sjol and legalizing prostitution… NO WAY! Not only would this be completely unethical, but also a very conflict-stirring move. In regards to sex-trafficking, this legalization would do virtually nothing to hinder the child sex-slave trade… because like Amanda says, it does not address the core issue. Generally, I would assume that the “clients” of the child sex-slaves are sick and twisted individuals. AKA pedophiles. Pedophiles are sexual predators (looking for CHILDREN). Legalizing prostitution (hopefully not including children) would not stop those who are specifically seeking out sex with children. This is not a matter of prostitution, which involves women voluntarily “selling” their bodies. This is a matter of people, mainly young girls and even boys, being kidnapped or forced into something that they do not want to partake in. It is not only physically unmanageable, it is emotionally scarring. It would ultimately not restrict the number of “sex slaves” being thrown into a completely disgusting “business.” Another thing Amanda said: “I see reversing the law against prostitution as only encouraging depraved behavior in an already seriously immoral country.” I completely agree with this statement. I think that it would only increase the already dire state of affairs that is our country’s moral fiber; and by legalizing prostitution, God knows what could come of it (besides the obvious).
Sex slave. Can one really imagine the life of one? Let alone the typical day? The abuse? It’s unreal! I cannot believe there have been 1,400 cases found since 2000. This number may be small, but it’s a number none-the-less. A number that shouldn’t even exist! Maybe this movie “Trade” isn’t creditable like some are advocating, but the fact of the matter is, sex slavery and trafficking does occur and it is in America. Why is this movie shot down and given poor reviews if it’s unveiling a negative part of some lives in America that we can help and fix? Actions like these are clearly unconstitutional and inhumane…so what’s stopping anyone from supporting the movie. It could potentially help uncover this mess, whether it’s as big as portrayed in the movie.
I am very interested in watching this move. It’s definitely on my “to-watch” list. I think that sex slavery is disgusting and grotesque, and although I’m completely uninterested in certain parts of the movie I’m sure are included, I’m looking forward to being educated on such issues. Because these are issues that need to be solved, but are overlooked and “swept under the rug.” I’m very glad this movie has been/is being released. Although I’m doubtful it will receive ANY good reviews, I think it’s good to open the eyes to American and show that this country is just as capable of doing wrong as any other country.
As horrible of a topic this is it isn’t news to me. I mean I knew of t, but not to much about it. For the most part of all that he said, it made sense, for every 1 we know of there are tons to match up that we don’t know about. Sad isn’t it, that something of this magnitude can’t be helped. I like what he said towards the middle when he was talking about the amount of sex slaves: “If the number of sex-trafficked girls – and boys – is greater than zero, we have a problem”. Couldn’t agree with you more, but maybe we need to be doing a little more to try and fix this problem in the United States.
One more thing I liked about this article, how he talks about the wrong in the subject of sex slaves, and periodically throws in the Christian aspect. Like the second to last paragraph how he says: Even as the critics rage, “Trade” is worth seeing. But it wouldn’t hurt to remember the sacred words: “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil.” This just shows how much strongly he is against this problem.
~Ryan Brannan
In response to Jordon Hoffnagle,
I couldn’t agree with you more on just about everything you said. Whether the movie “Trade” is credible or not, it’s an attempt at showing the world some things that they don’t know about it. Some things that most people probably didn’t want to hear about. Like Jordan said: “I cannot believe there have been 1,400 cases found since 2000. This number may be small, but it’s a number none-the-less. A number that shouldn’t even exist!”
Again, what you said about the movie. It is definitely a movie that I want to see, whether I want to see something the things that it may contain. I am looking for the overall message, because I know it is going to be disgusting beyond all means but maybe I could just cover my eyes at the “bad parts”. But all in all it’s something everyone should see so, like Jordan said, they don’t just “sweep it under the rug”. Something as serious as this should be released to the public and something should be done about it as soon as humanly possible because no one should have to live through those kind of conditions.
~Ryan Brannan