TRADING WOMEN is a documentary that investigates the trade in minority girls and women from Burma, Laos and China into the Thai sex industry. The culmination of 5 years of field research, the film shatters Western myths about the sex trade: "Its part of their culture to sell their daughters;" "The problem is the parents;" "It's because of Western sex tours;" "They sell girls for TVs." The film shows that, in reality, trafficked hill tribe girls do not land in the bar streets of Bangkok that cater to Westerners -- known to tourists, journalists and film-goers alike. They move into a world, far more hidden, and, as one character in the film says, "far more sinister" And far more likely to infect them with HIV/AIDS. The film takes us into that world, meeting girls, brothel owners, and traffickers, as well as those seeking to combat the trade. It also shows the casual, everyday nature of police corruption. It is the first film to show the relationship of the trade in drugs to the trade in women. Filmed in China, Burma, Laos, Thailand, New York, and Washington, D.C., this is the only film to follow the trade in women in all its complexity, and to explore the international response to the issue.
