In the 21st century
we witness a return to a focus on trafficking and slavery in the context
of discussions about commercial sex. Indeed, 'trafficking' functions as
a metaphor for prostitution. This evening's presentation includes a number
of movies which offer extremely candid accounts of the experiences and
travails of migrant sex workers. This content is rare, including a US Premiere
from Taiwan, as is the discussion. Why do some human rights experts say
that the US 'sponsors trafficking?' These stories do not glamorize, nor
condemn sex work. Rather they challenge stereotypes of migrant sex workers
from Southeast Asia, widely stereotyped as 'sex slaves.' They present the
viewer with a rare understanding of women who travel across borders to
work in the sex industry. This year the San Francisco Sex Worker Festival
is honored to share eight short works from the collection of sexworkerspresent,
the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers, including a number of APNSW works.
These powerful productions and collected work provide a valuable library
of first person accounts of sex worker's lives and organizing efforts in
Asia and around the World.
Suggested Reading:
The following
materials provide some background on rights-based approaches to trafficking.
Several reviews
of Laura
María Agustín's, Sex at the Margins: Migration, Labour Markets
and the Rescue Industry, include interviews and additional material
about this issue. Spiked,
The
New Statesman, and Reason.
Global
Alliance Against Traffick in Women's 'Collateral Damage' reviews the
impact of anti-trafficking measures on human rights in 8 countries. This
anthology emphasises the critical need for a re-assessment of anti-trafficking
initiatives around the globe in order that human rights do not get written
off as ‘collateral damage’ in combating human trafficking.
For more about
this discussion, visit: http://www.bayswan.org/traffick/
The Movies:
Anti-trafficking:
Cambodia the Reality
Produced by APNSW (Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers)
First-person stories of the effect and human cost of US backed anti-trafficking
laws on Cambodian sex workers, including accounts of a sex worker's
stay in a notorious "reeducation camp" prison. (Thailand,
4:43 min. - 2008)
MTV and the Trafficking
Law in Cambodia
Produced by No Exit News
MTV and U.S. AID want to save Cambodian women from sex work, but
some very irate Cambodian women think MTV forgot to have a conversation
or two along the way... A heartfelt response by sex workers in Cambodia
to the MTV Exit Campaign against trafficking and exploitation. (Cambodia,
9 min-2008)
Happy Endings
Director/Producer: Tara
Hurley; Editor: Nick Marcoux; Sound Design: Timothy O'Keefe
This guerilla style documentary follows the life of “Heather”
over three years as she works in a massage parlor, while the Rhode
Island legislators debate over what they have strategically called
a “loophole” which that allows prostitution behind closed
doors. The movie features interviews from massage parlor workers
(from Koprea?) in Rhode Island as they are confronted with the racism
and xenophobia of local anti-prostitution activists. This film also
features interviews with many Rhode Island’s movers and shakers
including Providence Mayor David Cicillin Steve Brown of the ACLU
and anti-prostitution zealot, Donna Hughes.(US, 80 min- 2008)
To See or Not To See
Director: Tsai Yi-Feng
(US Premiere screening) tells the fascinating story of immigrant
sex workers from mainland China in Taiwan. Director Tsai Yi-Feng
rides in the backseat with a driver for the sex workers, and follows
the women from their recruitment in Chengdu, Sichuan, to their workplace
in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. As immigrants, the women in this video might
be stereotyped as ‘trafficking victims,’ but the movie
documents the real lives, perceptions and difficult choices for
these women. This movie is a must see for all those who suspect
that behind the sensationalistic trafficking headlines, there is
a deeper and more complex story about the struggles of sex work
immigrants and the choices women make.(Taiwan, 64 min.-2003)
Director's
Statement
"I filmed “To See or Not to See” the only way I
could. Illegal, fake cross-Straits marriages, the women coming and
going in all the places offering sex services-the camera recorded
everything, but I had to pretend I didn’t see a thing."
And just like me, these women, confronted by the male gaze, by a
moralizing public discourse, by daily smear attacks-they too how
to pretend they don’t see. Facing the cameraman and the photographer,
they also often pretend not to notice. Facing their parents, their
families, even themselves, they have no choice but to pretend not
to see."
Screenings/Awards
2004 Taiwan International Documentary Festival-Nominated for Image
Taiwan Award
2003 WuShanTou Film Festival - Opening Film, Taiwan
2004 Taipei Film Festival - Jury's Special Prize
