The Day My God Died

Film Review: "The Day My God Died." Documentary Film on Sexual Trafficking in Nepal and India.

The title of this powerful and well researched documentary is from a quote by one of the girls kidnapped at a village fair in Nepal, drugged, and trafficked across the border to brothels in the largest red light district in the world, Bombay, India. The girl says, "The day that I was sold was the day that my God died". There are on average fifteen Nepalese girls trafficked daily. Their average age is 14, but some are 7-8 year old. They are sold into sexual slavery for 50,000 rupees and brutalized into submission. It's a $700 million industry, built up $2 at a time from sex workers earning $2 tricks. We see the anguish of a young mother kidnapped while taking her baby for medical help. In the film we meet trafficked victims – Meena, Anita, Ava, Sita, and Jyoti. Some like Jyoti have been rescued and now work as front line workers in rescue efforts going back to the actual brothels. In one scene Jyoti shows the rescuers the hiding place she was forced to hide during raids. On one raid she helped 6-7 girls to freedom. But a hundred girls rescued is just a tiny fraction of the hundred thousands still trapped. We witness the rescue efforts by Anuradha Koirala (Maiti Nepal), Harleen Walia (Sanlaap), and Gary Haugen of the International Justice Mission (IJM).

The film documents ways traffickers work, brutalizing, starving and raping victims, some as young as seven covered in cigarette burns. The film shows the squalid brothels, interviews with brothel owners, and the police corruption. But the film offers a ray of hope. It portrays three organizations involved in rescue efforts. We see the rescue strategies including the transit homes set up by NGO's, visit Sanlaan a drop in center for the children, Maiti Nepal (translation 'mother's home') a safe place for the girls unable to reenter village life. We see Anuradha Koirala leading and organizing demonstrations in villages, warning parents, talking to the girl prostitutes, we watch the freed girls, some as young as eleven, healing through art therapy, dancing, singing, telling their stories.

The rescue work in India offers pointers for what is needed here in the US. In Minnesota there are few transit centers, or hospices. The difficulties getting the girls to trust rescuers are similar. Many of the girls are dying from HIV AIDS. In India HIV AIDS is now reaching epidemic proportions. In the US HIV AIDS awareness and prevention programs targeting Asian populations are minimal. This film hopefully will draw support for the rescue efforts in Nepal and India. It is also a powerful tool for education and awareness on sexual trafficking here and the need for HIV AIDS awareness and prevention. All the rescuers are worthy of Nobel peace prizes for their work. But I was most struck by the compassion and fearless actions of Anuradha Koirala. These courageous heroines, young and old, are an inspiration to us all.

The documentary was shown Oct 26, 2005 as part of a four hour workshop on Sexual Trafficking – A Minnesota Issue, co-sponsored by the Center of Excellence for Women and Health, the Center for Women, Economic Justice and Public Policy, at the College of St. Catherine in St Paul, Mn. The workshop included panelists from the local rescue efforts in Minnesota such as Breaking Free, the Tubman Family Alliance and Civil Society. For more information contact the Centers of Excellence at 651/690-8847

This documentary is truly heart-wrenching and horrifying. People must see it so they can do something about it. It is still a huge problem today and very relevant. I recommend people who are just learning about trafficking to watch this film. It will give you a view of the underlying dark truth of humanity.

This film is one of the best documentaries I have ever seen. Mr. Levine is able to open your eyes as well as your hearts to the nightmare these girls live everyday. It stirred such an emotion in me that I immediately wanted to be in Nepal to help save these young girls from the brutalities they face on a daily basis. It is beautifully written, superbly and dangerously filmed, an editing masterpiece and the music blends all the incredible pieces together magnificently. When a director is able to make an audience weep from the story he/she is telling then they have done what they have set out to do. I don't believe I saw one dry eye come out of this film. Mr. Levine did such an incredible job representing the horrors of the sex slave trade and these girls, that it causes tears, chills, anger, guilt, hope and a sense of longing to come to these young girls aid. I can't wait to see what Mr. Levine has for us next.

This is a must-see film for everyone to understand what sex trafficking does to human lives, and what the girls sold to prostitution go through every second of their lives... the unthinkable act of selling kids as young as 6-7 year old who are constantly raped and tortured to satisfy their buyers, usually leads to their death through HIV/AIDS. Even after death, these girls are denied human rights when their cremation costs 10 times more than normal deaths. Kudos to CNN Hero Anuradha Koirala who continues her battle to rescue girls through her organization Maiti Nepal. And kudos to the rescued girls who continue to advocate this cause and join hands to banish sex slavery and trafficking. And kudos to the men who marry these rescued girls and help them get back a normal life which most of us are blessed with. This film is definitely a passage to the brutal and obscure life of girls who are sold to forced prostitution in exchange of foreign money.