Sex Trade, The (2016)

This feature documentary is a study of the sex trade, a reality that has expanded worldwide to become a true industry, both online and off, over the course of the past few decades. Part investigative report and part editorial, the film is a foray into a brutal world whose key players trivialize the impact of their actions by claiming that prostitution is simply a service like any other. But who’s really benefiting? To meet customer demands and keep this lucrative business rolling, unscrupulous pimps and sex traffickers target women and girls, who are afraid to speak out. High-end and street prostitution, escort agencies, massage parlours, strip clubs, the porn industry, sex tourism - the sex trade is sprawling, and has even spread beyond major urban areas. Behind the glowing signs of clubs and bars and on various websites, men are paying for sex and buying the consent of the women. With incisive comments from experts and enlightening interviews with people who have left or are still in the sex trade, the film takes a behind-the-scenes look at this industry to reveal a modern form of slavery.