As part of my 36 Hope Expands Series, I am practicing proximity by sharing the film The Long Night by Tim Matsui with other members of The Global Team of 200. The film is free to watch through this weekend.
The film follows lives effected by domestic sex trafficking in the Seattle area.
Seattle. The United States. Human trafficking happens here too.
The Parents.
The Runaway
The Addict
The Police
The film is difficult to watch. Being exposed to such profound pain is not fun. I almost deleted this whole post, when I realized that part of proximity is hard.
I would like to share two parts of the film with you.
Lisa, a heroin addict and prostitute, arrived at Genesis (a program implemented by the police to help trafficked minors into a new life.) A police officer gave her a bathrobe. She wept at the simple act of care.
Here you can see a photo essay of Lisa’s journey.
The runaway returned home, yet felt she would never be able to win her parents forgiveness. ‘I didn’t need to. They loved me unconditionally.’
Tim Matsui has not stopped with just making the film. He worked with The Fourth Act, an organization that brings storytellers and images together to create change and The Fledgling Fund doing the same through filmmaking.
There are hard things out there that shouldn’t be. It is so easy to look away.
Our challenge is to look and shrink the distance between us and those in need and respond.
It’s about proximity.
Start by viewing this photograph. It is cause to pause.
About Proximity 
Before watching The Long Night I always thought abotu trafficking in other countries because it’s always in the news or on the Internet. I knew there was trafficking here, but I had never seen it and didn’t know it was so prevalent. To say this movie opened my eyes is an understatement. Thanks so much for watching and for spreading the word!
Thank you for introducing the film to us. I am thankful when film makers use their talents to bring light to such issues. You are so right, you don’t readily place trafficking in the United States.
I saw something recently about the sex trade in America. Some women are tattooed and branded by gang leader, pimp or husband(!) which mark them as ‘property’. The article I read was talking about a woman who had escaped this life, and a man who was transforming the tattoos into something which could help the women heal and move on, like an open cage, loosed chains, etc.
Date: Sun, 7 Dec 2014 13:45:29 +0000 To: rps_diane@hotmail.com
It’s just a hard issue to wrap your mind around isn’t it. I’m thankful for your work on the issue that you shared with us too.