I Am Jane Doe

So it actually took awhile for me to get around to watching "I am Jane Doe." I missed the window where the film was in theaters and there weren't any other screenings near me. I finally got to watch it on Netflix a couple weeks ago and I'm so glad I did.

This film is eyeopening. It left me angry, heartbroken, and itching to get involved in the fight against human trafficking. The fact that this happens right under our noses, in our very neighborhoods, should enrage everyone. And the absence of justice against Backpage, even with a damning Senate report, is unbelievable.

Watch this. It's so important.

I AM JANE DOE is assaulting to any viewer. It revolts and disgusts any average audience, and it does so intentionally. Just look at the subject matter, and you can see why so many people seem to have a problem with accepting this film. The repeated rape and sale of children is a disgusting notion, one that cuts a person to the core. When I used to think about human trafficking, I always thought of it like in the movie "Taken". It happens to "dumb" people over seas. It doesn't effect me, or my life, at all. Watching this documentary rips apart that false assumption. Any American child, no matter their race, gender, sexuality, or socioeconomic status is at risk to be repeatedly raped and sold. That is abhorrent in every sense. It is the destruction of innocence, the eradication of futures. And it could happen to anyone. That is a terrifying concept.

What I AM JANE DOE does so well is aim those natural human emotions of confusion and disgust and rage on the broken system that allows for the insane profit off of the sale of children. There seems to be many comments so far about how viewers were disappointed that there was no happy ending in this film. That there wasn't a "fix" that was found to child sex trafficking. And it seems that those same people were also upset over the specific targeting of Backpage.com. I couldn't disagree with these comments more, as I thought the film handled this tactfully. It carefully and clearly exposed not only the injustice in our legal system for allowing Backpage.com to continue to profit off of the sale of children, but also carefully handled the horrific experiences these children went through, giving their trauma justice without spinning off down the rabbit hole to a depressing story about each different graphic instance of a child being sold for sex. Instead, I AM JANE DOE specifically focuses on the legal efforts to take away the ease in ability to profit off of the sale of children with the goal of a unification of efforts. Instead of having a single lawyer stand up for three girls in Seattle, and a law firm in Boston mounting its own case- I AM JANE DOE has encouraged the combination of efforts and collaboration between lawyers and activists and every day Americans in a universal call for change. Yes, this film does not offer a permanent solution to prostitution- because there is no magic pill to fix this- instead, the film offers a route to take for the ordinary citizen who is motivated to fight this, and exposes the lack of morals present in far too many technology companies that are willing to write off the sale of thousands of American children every year as collateral damage in their search for higher profits.

I AM JANE DOE calls for a change in the way we treat the internet. It demands a revolution against these companies that have so little regard for human life. It is already proving to be a catalyst, creating an avenue for true bipartisan politics, in both the House of Representatives and in the Senate (led by Senators McCain, Portman, Heitkamp, and McCaskill - outspoken leaders in both the Democratic and Republican parties), to amend the loophole that allows websites to profit off of rape with impunity.

Starting this documentary, I was angry. I was disgusted. I was revolted. I felt sick to my stomach knowing that one day this could happen to my children. This could happen to my best friend, my family, my neighbors. That knowledge made me full of sadness and rage. By the end of the film however, my thoughts had changed. I am now motivated. I have seen the power of a single voice standing up to massive corporations and unfair laws. Imagine what all our voices could do? I am determined to stand up for the hundreds of thousands of children who cannot stand up for themselves. I will Speak Out. I will Fight Back. Will You?

I really want to give this more stars because it explores the trafficking situation really well, however, there is no explanation as to WHY the other side is fighting against allowing speech censorship on the internet. Internet freedom of speech is a dissertation unto itself- it is not a simple black/white issue. I think pretending the other side had no argument (just "greedy & evil") was an oversimplification. Some of the speakers were part of the Village Voice. I have no doubt that those journalists had informed opinions on the topic that were simply edited out of the film.

Wow. Blown away by both the content and the presentation. This documentary brings necessary clarity to an issue that has been so sanitized in our society that it has gone largely overlooked. The videography is beautiful, and the editing and pacing kept me engaged the whole time. One of the main things I got from the film is that Backpage is the "Walmart" of human trafficking- meaning that the website makes it easy for your average consumer to access underage victims of child sex trafficking that have been advertised by pimps on the site as willing prostitutes. This mass accessibility (a few clicks, and consumers can just as easily buy a car or furniture on the site) normalizes the crime in society, draws it out from the fringe. One reviewer suggests that removing the vehicles of sex trafficking will not solve the problem, but he/she offers no other solutions or ideas. This is obviously a complicated issue with multiple causes, but limiting access is a KEY part of the solution (and one of the only problems that can be targeted in an effective way). I commend the filmmakers and the courageous women and their mothers in the film for shedding light on that. We should not be the type of society that lets executives earn billions off the repeated rape of children.

By concentrating on child sex trafficking, the film sidesteps the issue of the mass marketing of women (and young men) in general by traffickers who admit that their main tools are drug addiction and violence. That this is considered in anyway part of 'freedom' in America is nauseating. Village Voice is just one of numerous weekly urban free newspapers that get the BULK of their revenue from very expensive and extensive ads for prostitutes, S&M dungeons, sexual massage parlors etc. They throw in a few 'serious articles and listings for restaurants etc. but the 'soul' of the Village Voice and all the other such papers nationwide is PIMPING. That is the main gripe I have with this film is that they celebrate the 'venerable' liberal paper which has sunk to peddling sex for profit.