Diana Scimone

Q: How did that happen to her?

A: She believed the guy with the too-good-to-be-true story.

Q: How did he get in that mess?
A. He clicked on a Craigslist ad.

Q: And why doesn't she just leave?
A: Uh, she's a slave now.

MTV's college station, mtvU, just released a brilliant interactive digital experience called The Backstory, which answers these and many other questions -- and shows exactly what can happen if you too buy the lies that traffickers tell.

The Backstory is the latest component of mtvU's Against Our Will campaign. It was inspired by four James Madison University students who won mtvU's Against Our Will Challenge.

The Backstory interactive experience begins as you read a list of ads that resemble Craigslist posts. Click on one of the ads, titled "No Questions No Papers Just EZ Money," and you'll see the following post:

Free Rent and Money for School in Exchange for Housekeeping.
Large, clean room.
Looking for honest, HARD WORKING person.
Duties: vacuum, dusting, laundry, shop for groceries, and occasional cooking.
Serious Inquiries Only. No Papers Needed. Please call 555-1313 for further information.

Sounds intriguing, right? Harmless enough.

If you were a college student needing some quick cash, you might click on it too.

To find out what happened to the young man who did answer the ad, click on the "backstory" button...and then begins his sad story.

The Backstory doesn't work in all browsers; it worked better for me in Safari than in Firefox, so just check around.

Creativity and awareness

I absolutely love The Backstory and how mtvU has combined a creative, digital experience to educate tweens, teens, and college students about the lies that traffickers tell.

Our goal at Born2Fly is reaching kids before the traffickers do -- so you know I applaud anyone else who's doing that, too.

I also love the mix of creativity, art, and even dance. The videos feature silhouetted reenactments with dancers from Ailey II. They starkly portray the emotions that trafficked victims go through...and why we must make sure no child ever goes through this again.

 

Daughters who work so their fathers don't have to

This weekend I went to the Orlando screening of Nefarious: Merchant of Souls, a new documentary produced by Exodus Cry about human trafficking and the sex industry.

 

The producers filmed in 19 countries in North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

The film includes dozens of riveting interviews with trafficking victims and those who help them--and those who buy and sell them. It weaves a picture of the complex cultural, economic, social, religious, and political factors that can influence trafficking.

I've seen a lot of films and documentaries about trafficking, but I always learn something new. For example, I had no idea that 10% of the current population of Moldova has been trafficked. That's a shocking statistic.

Or that in some parts of Asia when a girl is born it's actually cause for rejoicing (unlike in other parts of Asia where boys are more valued than girls) -- because parents know their daughter will generate a steady supply of income when she's old enough to be trafficked. 

"Old enough" means about 4 years old, by the way.

There are a lot of graphic images in Nefarious, but to me the most horrendous was a group of fathers in Cambodia playing cards and drinking--which they do all day, every day--all funded by selling their young daughters to sex tourists.

The fathers don't need to work because their daughters do. 

I'm all about getting angry over the issue of human trafficking, and Nefarious will make you angry. I strongly encourage you to see it. The Incurable Fanatics* screening tour dates and cities are here.

 

* "If to be feelingly alive to the suffering of my fellow creatures is to be a fanatic, I am one of the most incurable fanatics ever permitted to be at large." -- William Wilberforce, 19th-century British politician and leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade.

 

 

 

BraveGirl: Standing up to con-artists of the child sex industry

If I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times:

Most kids get lured into child trafficking because they don't know the lies that traffickers tell. If we educate kids ahead of time, we'll help shut off the supply pipeline.

That's the goal of BraveGirl, a short about-to-be-produced film exploring con-artists of the sex industry in India through the lens of a young Nepali girl named Bumika.

When a man shows up in Bumika's village in Nepal offering to take her to Kathmandu where there is work, her parents give her permission to go. The journey from Bumika's simple home life in a Himalayan mountain village quickly leads not to the capital of Nepal but to the chaos of urban India. She sadly discovers the rules of this world are different than her own--and that she is a pawn in a much greater game.

You may remember my blog post about the photo that changed my life. I took the photo in Mumbai, India, the exact moment I first learned about child trafficking--when my contact showed me cages that hold 5-year-old girls smuggled across the border from Nepal to India.

Girls like Bumika.

The producers of BraveGirl are in the final weeks of raising the funds to make this important film. "This is about the issue of female human trafficking across the Nepal-India border," explains the film's producer, Stephanie Bousley. "We're working with a local Nepali production crew and are currently trying to raise production funds for the project."

The group is trying to raise $30,000 USD and is a little over 60% of the way there. The campaign ends on May 19 at 8:00 am EST (US). "So we have only have a few weeks left to raise the rest of the money or we won't be funded at all," adds Stephanie.

I've donated and you can too by clicking here. You don't need to donate a lot; the starting donation is just $10, and as I know from the Born2Fly Twitterthons, when a lot of people donate a small amount, we can reach seemingly unreachable goals.

You can read more about BraveGirl here:

www.bravegirlmovie.com
www.facebook.com/BraveGirlMovie
Twitter: @BraveGirlMovie

 

 

Negotiating the sale of a 3 year old

A colleague who is a filmmaker recently returned from Pattaya, Thailand, where child sex trafficking is not only rampant but often right in the open. She was there to take secret video footage of wanted pedophiles and report them to Interpol. 

Pattaya, Thailand

Now I don’t recommend that just anyone does this on a day off while visiting Asia. Child trafficking is organized crime and confronting traffickers is extremely dangerous. But I wanted you to read what she wrote so you can understand the depths of what is happening and feel her emotions at what she saw:

* * *

“Diana Scimone had introduced me to a world of atrocities through her experiences fighting child trafficking. Her stories kept me second guessing. Honestly, I couldn't fathom that this “trafficking” business truly existed. How could humans be capable of such detestable behavior? While preparing for my trip, I purchased a hidden camera to film what I would see. My goal was to locate and report any “wanted” pedophiles and report them to Interpol.

Map of Pattaya

“At first I was worried that I wouldn’t find any possible traffickers or pedophiles to film, but it was quite the opposite. There was an abundance of sex tourists. With such a tiny camera, it seemed impossible to film them all. Amidst all the Caucasian men, I quickly realized that, being the only Caucasian woman, just my presence was a threat to them. In fact, later as I reviewed my film, I realized some of them had even followed me.

“After filming for many days, I took a night off to go to a festival with some friends. The trafficking scene was far from my mind. As I was walking back from a fun, carefree night, I passed a dark parking lot adjacent to an abandoned building where two men were talking. With them was a small girl, possibly European and no older than 3 years old.

"The men looked European as well and they fearfully glanced my way. At a time when I least expected, I found myself witnessing firsthand the negotiation and sale of this innocent little girl. I couldn't help but wonder how she got here and who could be looking for her. How did she get into these dangerous hands?

“While the men’s eyes followed me closely as I walked on, the toddler suddenly ran free. My heart was hopeful as she seemed so desperate to escape from them and was making her getaway. But her legs betrayed her and she ran in zig zags. I knew she had been drugged. The men quickly caught her and stole her away into the darkness. There was nothing I could do. My heart broke as this helpless child's freedom was cut short.

“From behind the street light, I searched for her but the parking lot was dark, quiet, and empty. I never saw her again...but I couldn't forget her if I tried. My heart was officially wrecked. This is exactly what Diana had told me about. Children like these who are at the mercy at those strangers who buy them.

“Quickly I ran to my hotel. Once in my room, I fell to the floor against the door and wept uncontrollably. My doubts were no more. None of what I saw that night made it on film, but it is engraved permanently in my mind. Since that night, I feel haunted by the sick memory of greed that would ravage something so innocent as a means of profit.

“Child trafficking is real. It does exist. It happens everyday...every single day...and it needs to end...NOW.”

—An abolitionist

* * *

Remember, what this abolitionist filmmaker saw is not relegated to Thailand, nor just in Asia, but it is happening all over the world, including throughout the United States.

If you don’t believe me, look at the trailer for the documentary Playground about the child trafficking trade in Atlanta: www.playgroundproject.com.

Is there justice for these children?

"I'd rather not know."

"You may choose to look the other way, but you can never again say you did not know."

"I'd rather not know."

Those two statements were spoken more than 200 years apart. The first was spoken in 1789 by William Wilberforce, who singlehandedly took on the slave trade of the British empire--and helped to end it in spite of all odds.

The second statement was spoken by someone I talked with recently.

I told her why I launched the Born2Fly Project to help stop child trafficking. I told her some of the stories of children who are forced into modern-day slavery (aka child trafficking). Her response was, "I'd rather not know."

Our goal with B2F is to help children and parents all over the world become aware of the dangers of child trafficking--but it's also to help you and me become aware. Sorry, but I don't want us to ever be able to say, "I did not know."

In the 5 years since I've been working on the B2F Project--which is now being tested in the Dominican Republic--I've met children and young teenage girls who've been bought and sold like farm animals. Their faces are fresh in my mind. Should I tell them, "I'd rather not know your story"? 

I don't think so.

I'm a reporter, and my job--my mission--is to report what I hear and see. And if you read this blog, you'll hear and see, too. The stories aren't pretty, but I suspect you don't want to live in ignorance.

Meanwhile, if you'd like to learn more about child trafficking and how to stop it, watch this 3-minute video, "Get Angry. Please."

Thanks for not looking the other way.

The greatest generation

This is a great example of how the next generation is taking up the fight to stop human trafficking--a video produced by a group of high school kids:

I'm convinced their generation will be the ones to stop the horror of human trafficking. I know we refer to the World War 2 generation as "the greatest" generation, but I believe these young kids and many like them all over the world will also bear that title.

Hat tip to Jon Swanson (@jnswanson) for letting me know about this video and the young people who produced it. If you know of other kids working to stop the traffic in creative ways, please leave a comment to let the rest of us know about them.

* * *

UPDATE: They raised more than $1,000! The funds will help Tiny Hands International rescue children being trafficked across the border between Nepal and India. You can see the video here. Great job!

MTV: Good News and Bad News

MTV has a great anti-trafficking campaign called Exit -- End Expoitation and Trafficking. 

Since MTV launched the EXIT campaign in 2004, it's created programming that's informed millions of young people from source and destination countries about trafficking and empowered them to take action within their communities.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that you can watch EXIT programming all over the world EXCEPT in the US, where MTV doesn't air it. 

Instead MTV US airs a lot of programming that actually promotes sex trafficking of children and adults.  

The Florida Coalition Against Human Trafficking just launched a petition drive to encourage MTV to air EXIT in the US and be a little more responsible about what else they do air.

You can sign the petition here. It takes about 30 seconds. (Warning: The video clip with the petition is graphic.)

Demi Moore: "It's like the dirty little secret."

"It's not a popular [issue]," said actress Demi Moore. "There isn’t anyone who disagrees that it's unacceptable [but] people don't treat it like a top priority. In general, it's like the dirty little secret."

Moore was talking about child trafficking — "the dirty little secret." 

She spoke yesterday in Washington DC at a panel discussion at the US Capitol and said sex trafficking of US children is a domestic issue that should be viewed with a greater sense of urgency.

When she said, "We are focusing on the effect and not the cause," I wanted to cheer.  Yes, we need to rescue kids who are already trafficked — absolutely. But at the same time we need to stop the pipeline that feeds it.

That's what The Born2Fly Project does. Our goal is to reach kids before the traffickers do. 

In January, Moore and her husband, actor Ashton Kutcher, launched the Demi and Ashton Foundation to bring attention to the commercial sexual exploitation of children.

"We've bought into the myths," Moore said, "I think, collectively as a society that the girl is choosing it, she likes it, she's making a lot of money. And, I tell you, you go into a room of 13-year-old girls and ask them to raise their hands if they want to be a prostitute and then tell me if they're gonna choose it, and I guarantee you that none of them will be raising their hands."

The panel discussion was organized by the DNA Foundation and the Rebecca Project for Human Rights.

"They are merchandise because they are just pounds of meat."

That lovely thought is from the mouth of a human trafficker, talking about his victims.

He mentions it a number of times in Lives For Sale, a documentary that traces the story of 2 young women who cross the US/Mexico border illegally and end up being trafficked--one in California and the other in Florida.

Lives For Sale shows the strong connection between immigration and human trafficking, and why immigrants are willing to risk everything--even slavery--for the American dream. Many, of course, have no idea they are signing up to be slaves.

Click here to watch the trailer.

Human trafficking is the 2nd most profitable illegal industry on the planet, after illegal drugs. You can sell a drug once, but you can sell a person over and over again--and that's what happens to the women in Lives For Sale.

Here are some of the notes I scribbled in the dark while I was watching the film:

• There is an increasing "feminization of immigration."  54% of immigrants around the world are women--and many pay their way with their bodies--willingly or unwillingly.

• One young woman in the film was brought from Mexico to Phoenix to Los Angeles.  When she arrived at a dark and dirty home, she was asked, "Do you know why you are here? To work.  This is a brothel." To which she replied, "What is that?" This innocent young woman was forced to work as a prostitute.

• Another young woman was held hostage in a home in a middle-class neighborhood in the US--which was actually a brothel.  A neighbor noticed what was going on and called the police, but it took many calls before anyone believed her and rescued the young woman and others held hostage in the same house. "Finally someone believed my story," the neighbor said.

• Quote from a state attorney in the US who prosecutes traffickers:  "One of the first things I have to do is convince a jury that slavery actually exists."

• 500,000 undocumented people enter the US illegally every year.  70,000 of them will be trafficked. Desperation and crushing poverty lead them to believe the lies of traffickers who promise them the moon. 

Whatever you think about illegal immigration, no one deserves to be a slave.

The film showed two programs in Guatemala that help people out of poverty -- which means they are less likely to become illegal immigrants and be trafficked:

One program gives kids economic incentives to go to school and stay in school. This is particularly important for girls. 80% of women in Guatemala are illiterate.

Another program--a coffee co-op--gives farmers a place to sell their coffee beans, make money, feed their families, and get out of poverty. 

BTW, this excellent documentary has been shown on television only a handful of times.  In Florida where much of it was shot, it was shown on a Sunday night at 12 midnight--not exactly prime time. 

Why?  Why don't more media show this type of film and expose the horror that is going on in our backyards?

To learn what The Born2Fly Project is doing to stop child trafficking, click here.

Three Cheers for Slumdog Millionaire

If you told me that someone could make a feel-good movie about child trafficking and that it would win the Oscar for best picture, I wouldn't have believed it. 

But Slumdog Millionaire did. It's a great film, and at least the ending is feel-good. The rest of it is sadly an all-too-accurate portrayal of the horrors of child labor (which is not, of course, confined to India).

I went to India in 2001, just a few months after an earthquake killed about 100,000 people in a single morning. I traveled with a friend who was working on long-term relief and development efforts. She took me through some of the very slums where Slumdog Millionaire was filmed.

We also went through the red-light district that's also in the movie and met people helping kids like the ones you see in the film. That's where I first saw the cages that hold little girls smuggled across the border from Nepal. They're held hostage for a month while they're tortured, urinated upon, and otherwise abused--until they no longer have a will to resist.

Then they become the newest employees of Mumbai's brothels. And the youngest. Some are just 5 years old. (I'm not singling out India; sadly there are child sex slaves in every country, including mine.)

If you haven't watched Slumdog Millionaire, please do. And if you haven't watched Born 2 Fly's 2-minute video, "Get Angry. Please." take a look. You'll see lots of pictures I took of adorable kids in Mumbai and elsewhere in India.

Here are more of their faces, which are forever on my mind. (I couldn't see the faces of the children in the cages--but they are forever on my heart.)

 

What did you think of Slumdog Millionaire? Post your comments here.

Photos (c) Diana Scimone

The 21st Way

Last month I listed 20 ways you can help stop child trafficking. (You can read them in the column to the left--or here if you're reading this as an email.)

I promised to share the 21st way at a later date. Today's the day. The 21st way is to forward our new 2-minute anti-trafficking flash video to your friends and family. Just send them this link: www.born2fly.org  

Here's the video in case you haven't seen it yourself. (Be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think.)  

3 Cheers for Dr. Phil

I just watched Dr. Phil's excellent program on child trafficking.

Kudos to him for telling the difficult stories.  He focused almost the entire hour on what's happening in the U.S.  As you've read many times on this blog, child trafficking isn't just across the globe but across the street.  This is not just an occasional problem. 150,000 kids are lured into child slavery in the U.S.--every year.  

"I want people outraged by this," Dr. Phil announced--and he was pretty outraged by the stories told by brave young women who appeared on camera. 

"Who are the buyers?" he asked.  

An FBI special agent provided the answer:  "They're everybody's husband, father, and son.  Some of them are pretty high-level guys."  Yet, she said, hardly any buyers are ever arrested.  That, of course, has got to change.

There was a moving story shared by a young woman named Maria.  You can read more of her story here. It falls into the category of "Just when I think I've heard the worst story..."

Dr. Phil ended by giving 5 signs that a young person may be held against their will.

To learn what PawPaw's Pals is doing to stop child trafficking, click here.  Got comments?  Tell us what you think here.

If you went to the premiere today of Call + Response, leave a comment and let us know what you thought.

Coming on Friday: Call + Response "Rockumentary"

Call + Response, the rockumentary about human trafficking, premieres this Friday, October 10. (You can read my previous post about it.) 

ChristianityToday.com has a great interview with filmmaker Justin Dillon. As I wrote yesterday, I love when people don't let their present get in the way of their future. Justin was a musician, not a filmmaker.  He had a dream and didn't have a clue how to make it happen.  But he didn't let that stop him, either. I love what he says:

That's how this [anti-trafficking] movement is happening.  It's a bunch of passionate people who don't know how to connect, other than doing what they already know how to do, and they'll give toward something because they know that it's right and it's good.  And then eventually all those little pieces come together and make something--hopefully a movement.

Call + Response premieres Friday in 17 cities. If yours isn't one of them, send an email to bringit@callandresponse.com. Meanwhile, here's the trailer:

Want to comment?  Let us hear from you.  Just click here.

Dr. Phil and Human Trafficking

Dr. Phil will do a TV program on human trafficking Friday, October 10.  The program is timed to coincide with release of the film Call + Response.  Dr. Phil's guests include:

• Trafficking survivors who tell their stories
• An FBI agent who recounts a recent trafficking case in Texas
• Filmmaker Justin Dillon, who made Call + Response
• Actress Julia Ormond, UN Goodwill Ambassador, who's in the film

He'll also talk about the National Human Trafficking Resource Center Hotline.  In the past 10 months alone, the NHTRC has received calls about more than 2,000 potential trafficking victims--in the U.S.

Find local listings for the Dr. Phil Show here. 

To learn what PawPaw's Pals is doing to stop child trafficking, click here.  Got comments?  Tell us what you think here. 

The World's 27,000,000 Most Terrifying Secrets

That's the subtitle for Call + Response, a new documentary film premiering next Friday.  27,000,000 refers to the number of people who are enslaved around the world today.  

Many of them, of course, are children. In fact, there are more slaves today than at any time in human history. 

Call + Response goes undercover where slavery thrives--from the child brothels of Cambodia to the slave brick kilns of rural India. Is slave trade lucrative?  Yup. In 2007, slave traders made more money than Google, Nike, and Starbucks--combined.

Here's a list of theatres where Call + Response will be.  But if you don't see your city:

If you see the film, share your response with the rest of us.  Just click "comments," or go to the site where this is posted. 

Books, Books, and More Books

Yesterday I joined about 13,500 other people at the annual International Christian Retailing Show (formerly known as Christian Booksellers Association) in Orlando, Florida.  There were three highlights--only one of which had to do with books:

1.  I attended a book signing for my brother-in-law, John Stanko, who just published his 9th book, The Faith Files.  (You'll soon be able to download the e-book version on John's website.  In the meantime, take the free assessment on the site to find out your PQ--Purpose Assessment.)

 

 

 

   

   

2.  I met Ben Stein, whose documentary Expelled premiered earlier this year and is about to come out on DVD.  (He was signing posters for the film.) (No, he wasn't wearing his signature schoolboy shorts.)

Expelled exposed the prejudice against scientists who reject Darwinian thinking.  It took in almost $8 million at the box office earlier this year, making it the 12th most successful documentary of all time.

 

3.  I met Roy and Melanie Fields and Lindell Cooley.  Roy leads worship at the Florida Outpouring, the 4-day event that is now in its 105th day with no end in sight; I've gone to the meetings many times and loved them all.  Lindell led worship for years at the Brownsville Revival in Pensacola, Florida.  Here we are all acting goofy:

One trend I noticed at ICRS this year was the huge amount of fiction books.  So if you're writing a novel, this is your year. 

And if you've finished your novel, here are two great resources to help you find an agent: Query Tracker and Agent Query.  Who knows, maybe your book will be at ICRS next year and you'll be doing a book signing. 

The Writer's Workshop: Lessons From Broadway

Exactly two years ago this week, I had an opportunity to meet Broadway writer and director Stephen Schwartz--and four of his words have stuck with me ever since.

All his words were memorable, of course, but I'm going to focus on just four of them here because they've been so valuable as I've worked on my first book for the "Not For Sale" project to help stop child trafficking.

Schwartz has written music and/or lyrics for many Broadway shows including Godspell, Pippin, and the current Broadway hit, Wicked. He collaborated with Leonard Bernstein on Mass, and with Alan Menken on the scores for the Disney animated features Pocahontas and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  He also wrote the songs for the DreamWorks animated film The Prince of Egypt. 

Can you see why when Stephen Schwartz spoke, I was taking notes?

So what are the four golden words he shared that I've remembered to this day?  They are:

The "I want" song

The hero of any musical or novel or film wants something--and what he or she wants is what the plot is all about. 

Since Schwartz deals with music, he calls it the "I want song."  As he spoke, he showed us how his musicals open with the hero singing his or her "I want" song. 

Pippin, for example, features the beautiful song "Corner of the Sky" a few minutes into the plot.  (Check out William Katt singing it on Broadway, with a little of Ben Vereen thrown in for fun.)

You can't get more "I want" than those lyrics:  "I've got to be where my spirit can run free, got to find my corner of the sky."  The rest of the musical is about Pippin's quest to run free and find his corner of the sky--with all the ups and downs and near-death experiences that his quest entails.

As you write your novel (or screenplay or musical), think about the "I want" song for your main character.  What does she want so badly that she's willing to go through an entire book to find it?  What propels him, keeps him up at night, motivates him and practically drives him crazy in his quest to reach it?

Find it, and you'll find a valuable tool to help develop your plot.

In an upcoming post, I'll talk about another powerful plot element and what happens when it collides with the "I want" song -- which is exactly what your story needs to keep readers on the edge of their seats (or paying $150 for a ticket to see it on Broadway). 

To read more of what I learned about writing from Stephen Schwartz, check out Issue #10 of my e-letter, The Writer's Workshop. (I'm no longer publishing The Writer's Workshop and have instead incorporated it into this blog, but you can find all the back issues here including the first seven, which are part of my e-book, How to Write a Book.)

   

To comment on this blog post, click "comments" below (or if you subscribe to this blog, click here or go to my blog site and click on "comments" at the end of this entry).

 

David vs. Goliath

Last week I flew across country, and one of the films on the flight was Elizabeth: The Golden Age. I was tempted to watch it, but really I don't like watching movies on planes (unless I'm taking a 24-hour flight and ready to jump out the window halfway through it).  The screens are too small, too close (in the seat back in front of you) or too far away (halfway down the aisle), the sound is too scratchy, etc. etc. 

So I decided to wait to watch Elizabeth: The Golden Age...which I did last night on DVD. 

It was well worth the wait, and I highly recommend it.  This is the second film about Queen Elizabeth I in a series starring Cate Blanchett, and this one covers her later years with an emphasis on the defeat of the Spanish Armada. 

The costumes, lighting, sets, scenery, music, and acting were all spectacular, but nothing compared with the tension as England's out-numbered, out-trained, and out-supplied navy faced the overwhelming superiority of Spain's armada. 

Even though I knew how the story ends (you will, too, if you paid attention during high school history class), I was on the edge of my chair.

It's a classic David vs. Goliath story.  If you're looking at overwhelming odds in your own life (say, for example, you're trying to write a book to help end child trafficking), rent the DVD and be inspired.

And be sure to read the 2nd post I'm blogging right now--about David versus another adversary.

 

To comment on this blog post, click "comments" below (or if you subscribe to this post, just go to my blog site and click on "comments" at the end of this post).