A Harrowing Look at Child Sex Trafficking in the U.S.
We’ve posted numerous blog posts on this site about human trafficking worldwide. But sometimes, words on a computer screen fail to convey the true horrors of contemporary slavery.
Now, a new film simply titled “Playground” gives anyone who watches it a veritable body blow of unforgettable images of young children caught up in sex trafficking. But these are not teenagers in Thailand or Brazil; these are young girls and boys in the United States.
“Playground” was created by film maker Libby Spears, and among its producers are George Clooney and film director Steven Soderbergh. (Here’s a link to the Nest Foundation’s website; scroll down the left hand side to the “View Excerpts from the Film” link). The pedigree of quality is immediately apparent; this is a professionally rendered glimpse into the seamy underside of life in America, where children barely into their teenage years are sexually abused and exploited against their will and (as the film graphically shows) threatened with physical and emotional violence.
“Playground” — even just an excerpt — is not easy to watch. But if the U.S. and the rest of the world is going to come to grips with modern forms of slavery, “Playground” just might be the 21st Century’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
Paul –
Thanks for sharing this film. This is an incredibly powerful film about an incredibly important topic. I hope more people from Cincinnati will step up in the fight against human sex trafficking.
I know of hundreds and hundreds of women who have had their children taken from them and the mother’s were given monitored visits or none at all with their children because they revealed that the children’s father was using the children for sex. This is human sex trafficking and it is happening all over this country in divorce court. I know, I am one of those mothers. I do not deserve this and neither do my children. Wake up America and stop blaming the victims – mother’s do not claim their children are being abused by the father unless it is true. I have lost everything because I loved my children more than myself. I am a great mother.
Libby’s film does an extraordinary job of telling the stories of children who have been abused, and how that cycle continues to the next generation. It becomes all to clear that the United States does not do nearly enough to stop child exploitation and sex trafficking.
My hope is that everyone working in the juvenile justice, social service and all teachers are able to view this film.