Emma Thompson's Journey Into Abolition

Human trafficking victims have a well-informed and intelligent celebrity advocate who doesn't show her underwear in public. I'll wait while you pick your chin off the floor. The newest hero of the modern-day abolitionist movement is award-winning British actress Emma Thompson. Thompson is not new to human rights advocacy or even anti-trafficking advocacy. But she is going above and beyond just using her celebrity to bring attention to this issue and using her well-endowed noggin.

Thompson recently opened an art exhibit called Journey, which is meant to draw attention to the issue of trafficking of women and girls into commercial sex. But the mature and nuanced analysis which Thompson brings to her characters on stage and screen also shows through in her approach to human trafficking. Journey presents trafficking as not just an international phenomenon, but a local one which happens where we live, even in the U.S. and UK. Case in point -- Thompson got involved in the fight for abolition when she discovered a massage parlor on her street was trafficking women. And if I had to guess, I'm gonna guess Emma Thompson doesn't live in a shady, low-rent part of London. Journey drives home the point that slavery in prostitution and commercial sex is not just happening on the other side of the world, it's happening in your community.

In her recent Good Morning America interview, Thompson fearlessly addresses the tough questions around commercial sex, prostitution, and human trafficking. While she never claims to have a "right" answer, she does point out that since Sweden fully criminalized buyers of commercial sex, traffickers have been reluctant to bring victims into a country where demand is so greatly reduced. But she balances this with the consideration of protecting all women, including those who have voluntarily entered prostitution. Thompson is obviously not satisfied with simply attaching her name to the issue and walking away satisfied -- she understands the complexities involved and is working for real change.

In the age of celebrity endorsements for every product from sneakers to soda, including causes, it can sometimes feel overwhelming to tease out what endorsement is representative of a meaningful commitment to an issue. But Emma Thompson is rare in her knowledge and meaningful analysis of the problem of human trafficking and the solutions we must pursue to end it. So whether you love Thompson for her more highbrow work in Howard's End, or for her nutty portrayal of Harry Potter's divination teacher Professor Trelawny (my personal favorite), you can certainly appreciate her passionate and well-informed commitment to raising awareness about human trafficking and moving victims from slavery to freedom.

Journey will be in Washington Square Park in New York City and runs through Nov. 15. If you're in the area, please check it out.

Photo credit: World Economic Forum