Human Trafficking at The Oscars

by Amanda Kloer · 2009-02-18 09:20:00 UTC
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Break out the popcorn and couture, because it's Oscar weekend!  In addition to the number of other social issues the Oscars have helped promote over the years, human trafficking is in Oscar's past, present and future.

Past: Guest blogger Michele Clarke writes and excellent peice remembering the 2005 Oscar season, when the group Three 6 Mafia won an Oscar for their song "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp".  This was a slap in the face for the abolitionist community from the Oscars.  But even more painful was the limited public outcry.  Had there been a documentary about Civil War-era slavery with a song "It's Hard Out There for a Slave Owner" nominated, the Academy would have been bombarded with angry citizens outraged at the immorality.  Sure pimps struggle to make money off the human cargo they sell, just like rapists sometimes have trouble finding an easy victim and robbers are thwarted by alarms.  Do we really want to promote sympathy for a criminal's difficulty in committing a crime?  

Present: Slumdog Millionaire has been nominated for 10 Academy Awards.  As I mentioned in a recent review of the film,  Slumdog Millionaireprominently features the plight of child trafficking victims who are forced to beg in the streets. ***Spoiler Alert*** In the film, the main character Jamal, his brother Salim and his soon-to-be love interest Latika are living on the streets.  They are soon lured to an "orphanage" by a human trafficker who exploits children by forcing them to beg.  The blinds the better singers of the group with hot metal, knowing that blind singers make more than sighted ones. *** Spoiler End***

If Slumdog Millionaire were to win an Oscar on Sunday, it would bring much-needed attention to issues of human trafficking in India, and by extension, around the world.  I don't know of any other film which has won an Oscar that features human trafficking so prominently.  The 2006 short film Fields of Mudan, about child trafficking in China, was nominated but didn't win.   

Future:You can host an Oscar party, cheer for Slumdog Millionaire to win, and help human trafficking victims in the future.  Pledge to Host an Oscar Party for Victims of Human Trafficking right here on change.org.  Project Rescue has some great ideas for how to throw a party and a fundraiser. 

Amanda Kloer is a Change.org Editor and has been a full-time abolitionist in several capacities for seven years. Follow her on Twitter @endhumantraffic
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