The title of this in the field documentary is a lot more scary than what it delivers. For those who are not au fait with this kind of loaded rhetoric, sex trafficking is the new narrative of the anti-prostitution industry. Originally the prostitute was a fallen woman - the Biblical harlot. Second wave feminism gave us prostitution equals rape (along with everything else equals rape), then prostitutes and others fought back with "sex work is real work" or simply "sex work is work". Now we have sex trafficking, and the larger issue of people trafficking.
Both are real phenomena, and the latter is actually encouraged by NGOs, even so there is no need to grossly exaggerate the problem.
Herein we meet Jillian Mourning, who has an unbelievable story to tell. Literally unbelievable. She claims to have started as a model then to have been forced into prostitution by her agent after she was videotaped being gang-raped. In December 2012, she was quoted by Creative Loafing Charlotte to the effect that after her agent's arrest she refused to testify against him because she didn't want to relive the trauma. The reality is that he was arrested purely for financial crimes, and Mourning herself spent less than a year working as a prostitute before experiencing seller's remorse. There are many stories like hers which grossly exaggerate the extent of what is actually voluntary prostitution. These have been fueled by the conviction of the billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, whose "victims" although underage were well remunated for their services.
Having said all that, street prostitution is no "career" for a teenage girl or young woman, so anything that encourages them to quit the oldest profession is to be welcomed, but massage parlours operate legally in many countries, and as long as they are able to do so, are not driven underground, the only real problem here is that of moralising policemen, politicians, and activists who insist on portraying women as victims for making poor lifestyle choices, something with which the women themselves are clearly happy to go along.
Both are real phenomena, and the latter is actually encouraged by NGOs, even so there is no need to grossly exaggerate the problem.
Herein we meet Jillian Mourning, who has an unbelievable story to tell. Literally unbelievable. She claims to have started as a model then to have been forced into prostitution by her agent after she was videotaped being gang-raped. In December 2012, she was quoted by Creative Loafing Charlotte to the effect that after her agent's arrest she refused to testify against him because she didn't want to relive the trauma. The reality is that he was arrested purely for financial crimes, and Mourning herself spent less than a year working as a prostitute before experiencing seller's remorse. There are many stories like hers which grossly exaggerate the extent of what is actually voluntary prostitution. These have been fueled by the conviction of the billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, whose "victims" although underage were well remunated for their services.
Having said all that, street prostitution is no "career" for a teenage girl or young woman, so anything that encourages them to quit the oldest profession is to be welcomed, but massage parlours operate legally in many countries, and as long as they are able to do so, are not driven underground, the only real problem here is that of moralising policemen, politicians, and activists who insist on portraying women as victims for making poor lifestyle choices, something with which the women themselves are clearly happy to go along.