“An assault on our humanity” is how English professor Gita Rajan introduced the topic of Dr. Ruchira Gupta’s Emmy Award-winning documentary, “The Selling of the Innocents,” to a packed crowd at the Kelley Center Monday evening.
Through her documentary, Gupta brought the world’s attention to the crimes committed against girls in Central Asia. The film focuses on sex trafficking between the countries of India and Nepal and includes harrowing footage from Bombay brothels.
Nepalese girls, some as young as seven years old, are sold for as little as 20 American dollars and then transported across the borders, where guards are often paid to turn a blind eye. When they reach India, they are subjected to beatings, psychological trauma and rape.
“Specifically, in representing the rights of women and children entrapped in the punishing realities of sex trafficking on a massive global scale, Ruchira Gupta makes us her witnesses and encourages us to act,” Rajan said.
Gupta originally began the project on a completely different track – researching how natural resources were utilized in Nepal. It was then that she noticed that many small towns were devoid of any females between the ages of 15 and 45.
So, she began to ask questions.
“Don’t you know? They are all in Bombay,” was the answer.
Once across the border, the Nepalese girls are sent to an area of six blocks in Bombay, joining the 200,000 other prostitutes who live and work there.
Prostitutes were reported as serving approximately 45 men a day, at a price equivalent to two American dollars. More money was garnered for young girls and virgins.
The documentary was filmed in 1997 and includes some rather disturbing scenes, including a Nepalese man selling his young daughter to a “procurer,” and a young girl who recalls losing her virginity to a client while her madame watched, all the while explaining to her how to perform.
Rajan, the Center for Faith and Public Life, the English department, the honors program and the women’s studies program brought Gupta to Fairfield to raise awareness about this global issue.
Students, some sitting on the floor due to the overwhelming turnout, said they were deeply affected by the stories.
“Although it was so hard to watch, I’m really glad I got a chance to see it and experience it,” said Michelle Holmberg ’08.
The film also documented the various efforts to rescue the young girls, including the invasion of a brothel. It is a movement that Gupta, after filming her documentary, joined herself.
“After filming, I went from journalist to activist,” she said.
In addition to serving as a spokeswoman for UNICEF, Gupta testified in front of the United States Congress as an expert witness to help pass the 2000 Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act.
“Keep the issue center stage because we arrived at the tipping point. Only if we keep [these women] in the public eye will there be change,” she said.
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