Emma Thompson’s “Journey”

Emma Thompson in front of two of the seven shipping containers that house the Journey exhibit.

For those of you living in or visiting New York, I urge you to take the time to see the new exhibit, Journey,  which depicts the horrors of human trafficking. New York’s Mayor Bloomberg, Oscar winning actor and human rights campaigner Emma Thompson, guest artists and curators are launching a provocative installation depicting the “Journey” of trafficked women across the globe into the sex industry.

I was unaware of human trafficking and its prevalence in our own country, until I got involved with Innocents at Risk last fall. Since then, I have read a great deal about the problem. I am as disturbed, as I am inspired to talk and write about the issue in hopes that more people will become aware and will be able to protect themselves and their loved ones. I think men in particular need to understand what is happening, and how men’s demand for “almost legal” young girls is fueling organized crime’s $32 billion a year business. And of course, pedophiles and those seeking virgins create other demands that drive this sick business.

As much as I want to help save abused dogs and feed hungry cats with the Washington Humane Society, or help find a cure for Alzheimer’s or Leukemia & Lymphoma, when a human being doesn’t have her freedom and is treated like a commodity that trumps all these other issues to me. I could be wrong but I don’t think any other specie rapes its young who aren’t at the age of puberty. And humans are supposed to be the most intelligent animal on the planet, and the only one to have a conscience? As you can tell, this issue truly upsets me,and I could go on and on about it.

Back to the exhibit…Visitors to the exhibit will walk through seven shipping containers that tell the story of Elena who was trafficked into sexual slavery. Each container evokes the seven stages of a trafficked woman’s experience:

1. Hope
– Oscar winning film designer Michael Howells

2. Journey
– sound engineer and music producer Mick Martin

3. Uniform
– Oscar winning costume designer Sandy Powell

4. Bedroom
– Coco de Mer founder Sam Roddick and Trevor Robinson
of Quiet Storm Films

5. Customer
– playwright Simon Stephens, photographer James Ostrer

6. Stigma
– Turner Prize winning sculptor Anish Kapoor

7. Resurrection
– Oscar winning actor Emma Thompson, Royal Designer Mike Dempsey
and V&A prize winning illustrator Laura Carlin

The exhibit is at Washington Place, at Washington Square East and open to the public from Tuesday 10 November to Friday 13 November 12-8pm, Saturday 14 November 11-7pm and Sunday 15 November 10-3pm. Entrance is free but restricted to those aged 17 and over.

I hope you will take the time to go through the exhibit. While we are blessed to be able to spend the holidays with family, there are families who are missing their young daughters. I know that this is a horrible subject, but we must not turn away from it and pretend it’s not going on. The more people who are aware of what is happening all around us, the sooner this can be prevented and lives can be saved.

- Miss A