Born Into Brothels Film Analysis

Human trafficking has been identified as a profitable illicit business. Sexual exploiters have profited off the sexual exploitation of women and minors, while businesses have profited from nonconsensual labor from minors who cannot express their own interest. (Marcus, et.al, 2002, p.47). The regional director of “Not for Sale” makes a valid point about profitable gains of human trafficking. “You can sell a bag of drugs once, but you can sell a person multiple times,” (Marcus, et.al, 2002, p.47). That quote is basically the mindset of traffickers who look forward to making a profit and decide partake in this illicit business. In regards to sexual exploiters and minors, there are only a handful of

As Monzini points out, prostitution is one of the services that can be trafficked. Prostitutes have more freedom and autonomy than women who are victims of sex trafficking (Monzini, 2005, p. 2). In fact, sex trafficking can be seen as a form of slavery.

Supply and demand are usually the reason for every commodity. If the law doesn't allow the item being demanded, a black market will be created (“Pearson Economy Textbook 128-129”). Child prostitution and trafficking has a demand, and because that demand is present, a black market is created. Because it is illegal, there is a lot of money to be made from children in sex trafficking. Tom Philpott, a former editor of the Daily Texan, and History Professor at the University of Texas explains in his documentary “Boys for Sale” that there are a few situations where child prostitution and sex slavery can be influenced by the economy. It can influence the victim themselves, or by pimps who organize young children for prostitution. Kids who are on the streets are usually homeless, orphans or runaways that are trying to pay for food and take care of their other siblings. They oftentimes resort to trading sexual favors for food and money in order to survive. Pimps can step in and take advantage of these children by organizing them between buyers. Offering children food, shelter, and basic life necessities are the trade off pimps offer for children to lure them in. Philpott goes on to talk about how young boys, in particular, are often exchanged between high-powered professions and people who hold prestigious roles in society. This can make these illegal activities higher priced and place victims at a higher risk of harm because of the illicit affairs high profile buyers partake

“ She was just seventeen when she got into prostitution- child trafficking- but she didn’t know she was a victim at the time. She had been beaten and raped by her father since she was twelve years old.” (Zhai Yun, 1.) Young victims of youth sex trafficking are not just kidnapped by unknown people into this. It can be by their father, mother, brother, or sister. It can be forced upon them by people who have come into their life claiming they can make it better. When in reality it just makes it worse. They have no idea what they are getting into and what is going to happen to them. They are fed with lies and false pretentions of what is going to happen. They are caught in a trap that is hard to get out of. Often they are to scared to try to run or be rescued. They just do what they are told so that they live or so their loved ones live.

Born into Brothels uses contrast, pathos and photographs to illustrate a struggle to find children a better future and the fact that they have a lot of potential even though they come from such a violent beginning. The use of these rhetorical strategies is, for the most part,

Prostitution is a well-known act of offering sexual service to an individual in return for payment. In the documentary “Very Young Girls” it explains a candid perspective of prostitution and sex slavery in New York City. This film allows the viewers to see the works of a former prostitute Rachel Lloyd. Rachel Lloyd started an organization called GEM (Girls Education and Mentoring Services) to meet the needs of victimized young women who escape their handler and find an alternate route of life. It shows teenage girls during different stages of their transition. Although this program would hope for a successful turnout some girls are sp psychologically damaged by their owners that they feel obligated to return. Using the material from the previous class periods, it will further explain the theories of human behavior. The eight perspectives from chapter two and the trauma/ maltreatment effects on brain development.

Born into Brothels is a great documentary focusing on the Red Light District in Calcutta. This is a place where women turn to prostitution to make a living and the daughters have no choice but to do the same. The males are mostly interested in drugs and other illegal ways of making money. The children here have no opportunity to get an education. Auntie Zana, as named in the movie, seems to be an American woman who is trying to help the children have a better future. She is teaching them photography and displaying their works to raise money for their cause.

Born into Brothels, shares the chaotic lifestyle of eight children and their mothers from the Brothels of Calcutta, in the perspective of the director, Zana Briski, and the deprived children. Using the basic techniques of photography, Briski teaches the children to document their lives through photos, which are then used as a baseline for the documentary. Born into Brothels revolves around Briski’s attempt to gain awareness and education for a small group of children whose lives are filled with tragedy. Being identified as a ‘white-privileged’ female from the United States of America, Briski carries a completely distinct perspective of the life in the ‘red light’ district, than the children themselves. She sympathizes with their situation

Imagine a four year old girl growing up in contemporary Cambodia. Each morning she wakes up miles from home, homesick and scared. She is forced to beg for money for the brothel that she belongs to, and all of her earnings go straight to her master. Then, that night, about seven men come to the brothel. These men, some as old as fifty, often pay as little as two dollars to partake in sexual intercourse with these school-aged children. The toddlers enslaved in the horrific sex trade are forever stripped of their purity, making human trafficking a major issue in present day Cambodia. Over 30,000 children are sexually exploited annually (“Children for Sale”), and millions have been forced into human trafficking

In the film, Born into Brothels (2004), British filmmakers Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman setout to present a perspective from the children of sex workers living in Red Light District of Sonagachi, Calcutta. This film, however incidental, demonstrate single narratives on the basis of morality, sexuality, and preconceived notions about the third world. Their attempt at filming an impartial ethnographic film that spoke of the true nature of life as a child in the Red Light District of Calcutta failed from their Western gaze and lack of insight about the community of Sonagachi to contextualize how the Red Light District and the poverty surrounding are a result of globalization. Acknowledging the “before” that Briski and Kauffman could never understand about the Red Light District because of their limited Western understanding about the third world, would’ve resulted in a more inclusive look into the subjective perspectives of the children. Instead, using footage and still pictures of the dirty allies, children covered in what seems to be oil, naked children chained like animals in a zoo, etc, as an aesthetic (lens) used to reproduce hegemonic narratives about the third world and objectively reflect reality. Additionally, these shots separate the people of the Red Light District from Westerners and establishes and “us” and a “them”, them being objects and not full established subjects.

There are many cases as to why people get into prostitution. One of the most common reasons women decide to become a sex worker is usually to help pay for schooling, or other financial debt. Here in California minimum wage is now about ten dollars an hour which is not nearly enough money to support oneself, let alone pay for college loans. In an AlterNet article Celine Bisette talks about how people let ignorance get the best of them as they assume her being a prostitute is a product of sexual abuse. Celine states,” The reality is that I had a happy childhood that was completely devoid of abuse of any kind. I grew up in a very ordinary middle class family. My parents cooked dinner for me every night, helped me with my homework, and told me they loved me every single day.” When people make judgements about why sex workers are doing what they are doing it puts these workers in an uncomfortable position, making them regretful and embarrassed about a job that they like doing.

Unfortunately, there’s a disconnect between these sex workers and those outside their world, and people often mistakenly tie prostitution to feeding horrific crimes, such as human trafficking rings, rape, and murder.

The enormously high poverty rate, coupled with the crackdown on pedophilia in the western world makes Cambodia particularly vulnerable and child sex trafficking has become a lucrative way to exploit the country’s natural resources. One of the young girls featured in the film, Da-Lin, tells her story - “I sold my virginity to an old man for $500, I did it to help my family, my parents were sick and my brothers and sisters are young and had to go to school, my virginity was the only thing of value we had” (2:15). Another young girl explains how she suffered a stroke due to the abuse she endured. The stories go on and on, young children sold as child sex workers by their husbands, boyfriends, friends and family members. They cannot seek help from the authorities for fear of imprisonment, and they face exile from their villages due to shame.

Extreme poverty can cause girls enter sexual trafficking in many ways. Grace, a young girl who escaped the sex industry describes one common theme. When she was in the 10th grade, "her father told her that as a woman, she was 'predestined by God to save her family from poverty by going to Europe to earn money'" ("Grace"). Upon arriving there she found that she had been sold in prostitution by her family and that was how she was expected to earn them money. This presents several problems but none clearer than that of her family willingly subjecting her to prostitution. Her family did not value her enough to treat her as an actual person and instead sold her off like an animal and profited from it. This is not the first of stories like this to appear. Many young girls are in prostitution by the fault of their families. Another girl, Phalla, tells a similar story. Phalla says that when she was taken into the city by her grandmother,

Both women and children are often times forced into the prostitution business. It is a big problem in society that harms vulnerable people. “Human trafficking is a crime that inflicts terrible harm on the most vulnerable members of society: victims of abuse, the poor, children, runaways, immigrants. It is in every sense a form of modern-day slavery” (Lippman). Sometimes women accept the job unknowingly. They think they are getting a legitimate job, like being a maid. They then find out what they really have to do and they are then trapped and enslaved (Weaver).