Emma Thompson Rape Scene Says "Trafficking Is Torture"

Every now and then, I miss some great little gem of public education or awareness. This is one of those gems, a powerful, disturbing public awareness message created a couple years ago by actress and anti-trafficking activist Emma Thompson. Here's the video, with more analysis after the jump. Warning: While the video below doesn't show any actual body parts, it's a clear depiction of rape.

This is one of the most courageous public service ads I've seen about human trafficking, and to be honest, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that television stations were reluctant to air this. Even though the camera never shows a forbidden-on-TV body part or even much more skin than Thompson's face, her expressions and the movement of the bed makes it abundantly clear: she is being raped.

The first time I watched this video was actually in a public place, and it made me exceedingly uncomfortable. But even watching it again alone in my home, I wanted to turn it off. I knew cerebrally that Emma Thompson isn't actually being trafficked or raped, that she's just a gifted actress. I even tried to image that a young, pimple-faced grip is nervously shaking the bed, and that out of view of the camera Thompson is actually wearing jeans and sneakers and holding a latte. But my visceral repulsion and my desire to turn away was too strong.

Repulsion is something those of us committed to ending modern-day slavery need to tap back into, and videos like this can help. We need to remember that behind all the discussions of legislation and policy, behind all the online petitions with their euphemistic wording, there is a woman with her face contorted in pain because she is being raped by hundreds of men. There is a man who is falling to his knees with heat exhaustion and malnutrition in a field. There is a child who will never go to school, play, or dream because all she does is cook and clean.

Behind human trafficking is human suffering. And that's something Emma Thompson, for one, will never let us forget.