Christian film aims to curb human trafficking in India

A group of independent film makers is using media to put an end to the epidemic of human trafficking that has plagued India’s “untouchables” for centuries.

“We can see ourselves in this story and when we do that we get involved,” Brent Martz, co-producer of “Not Today” told CNA.

He hopes the film, which is set to release sometime next spring, will help make human trafficking in India a reality to film-goers, which will then prompt them to take action to stop it.

“We want people to join us to become part of this story – to become part of this cause to see slavery abolished in India,” he said.

Although the film focuses on the story of one girl named Annika who, under false pretenses, is sold into sex trafficking by her impoverished father named Kiran, Martz said it really is about helping all the Dalit people of India.

Many people, Martz lamented, have not even heard of the Dalit people. If they have, “ it was in a passing comment or news story.”

Dalits comprise close to one quarter of the India’s 1.2 billion member population but, according to the caste system, are seen as inherently worthless. As a result, they face discrimination and poverty, making them extremely vulnerable to traffickers.

An estimated 3 million people in India are enslaved in the sex-trade alone, 1.2 million of whom are children, according to the Dalit Freedom Network.

“Not Today,” Martz said, aims to make movie-goers understand “what it really means to be one of the 250 million people who are enslaved in India because they are untouchable, the outcasts, the unwanted.”

Along with Annika’s plight, the film includes the story of Caden, a materialistic American college student, who ends up assisting Kiran in the search for his daughter. [More]

SOURCE

CNA