The Movie the Whistleblower - Assignment Example

of the of the Concerned Teacher 21 March The Whistleblower This film is based on a true story and reflects the international concern with corruption and human trafficking. What have you heard/learned about the issue of trafficking to date? Response: The movie The Whistleblower does depict the far researching tentacles of corruption and human trafficking and as to how the crime of human trafficking does find protection and encouragement from the very same international agencies and individuals who are expected to protect and safeguard the weak and vulnerable in the world. Human trafficking is a crime that has a global reach. The irony is that unlike many other crimes, this crime is imbued with much shame. Human trafficking is a crime that has made the life a living hell for millions of people around the world. It is a crime that deprives the people of their very human rights, respect and sense of dignity. As shown in the film, the human traffickers jilt the girls, women and children residing in the most poor, impacted and vulnerable parts of the world and push them in a life of slavery and forced labor. The sex slavery is the most infamous and known aspect of human trafficking and it is the thematic concern of the movie The Whistleblower. Yet the thing that needs to be understood is that human trafficking is a crime that has multiple facets and dimensions. Every year, millions of people around the world are cheated and forced by human traffickers to be used as human slaves Besides, forced sex, people are also trafficked to be pushed into forced labor, forced organ extractions, domestic slavery, forced military service, begging and crime. This is a crime that world community does need to come against. 2) What suffering and oppression does the main character witness? How does this affect her? Response: In the movie The Whistleblower, the main character Kathryn Bolkovac does come across much suffering and oppression when she commits herself to the job of investigating the human trafficking associated sex slavery being carried on in the post war Bosnia Herzegovina. Kathryn manages to solicit the interest and respect of Madeleine Rees, who served as the boss of the Human Rights Commission at Bosnia Herzegovina, for the proactive role she played as a police investigator in a local case of domestic violence. Consequently she is elevated to the post of head of the department of gender affairs. It is then that Kathryn gets her first hunch that something really wrong was going on at that place in the area of sex slavery and she commits herself to the role of investigating the human trafficking racket active in Bosnia. Not to say that once she commits herself to the mission, Kathryn not only finds scarce help and cooperation from her colleagues and the local police, but rather she is viciously time and again dissuaded from carrying on with her investigations. All the time she feels isolated and alienated by the very same people and institutions, which are expected to help her fight for the innocent victims of war. She is really discouraged and shocked to know that many of her international colleagues, including those from the US are actually engaging with human sex slaves, but have also become an integral part of the actual racket. She is positively discouraged by her seniors at the mission from pursuing her investigation and she is even offered a bribe in the form of a paid leave to prevent her from carrying on with her investigations. Finally a mail to the top UN officials not only deprives her of job, but she is in a way forced to leave behind the innocent sex slaves that relied on her help and protection. During most of her time in Bosnia, Kathryn faced a threat of personal harm and violence. 3) What challenges and struggles does Kathryn face as she confronts the reality of the situation in Bosnia? How does she take a stand with the victims? What does this cost her? Response: When Kathryn comes to confront the reality in Bosnia, she at once realizes that not only she is highly unwelcome in Bosnia for her role as an investigator of the human trafficking related sex slavery being carried on at the local pubs, clubs and brothels, but even her colleagues from the US were highly averse to the idea of investigating and stopping human trafficking in that area. When Kathryn learns that innocent girls and children were being trafficked in Bosnia with people from the international community acting as their customers and sex masters, she is immensely discouraged, disillusioned and hurt. Things for Kathryn get even worse when she uncovers the fact that the very peace keepers who are expected to protect the vulnerable women in the violence torn Bosnia are actually an integral part of sex trafficking there. She ends up feeling extremely alienated, discouraged and lonely. Once Kathryn starts to get conclusive leads about sex trafficking in Bosnia, she is recalled to the mission by his immediate seniors who directly dissect her personal life and her estrangement from her daughter to dissuade and discourage her from carrying on with her investigations. She is even offered a paid leave to help her move away from the immediate investigations. Throughout the movie, Kathryn not only evinces a great solidarity with and concern for the girls being racketed in the area, but she also tries her best to get their cooperation. Time and again Kathryn tries her best to instill courage and a sense of security in the victims of human trafficking in Bosnia. In fact Kathryn gets extremely hurt when a sex slave named Raya, whom she tried to rescue, is actually murdered to derail her investigation. Moreover, throughout her investigations, Kathryn faced a grave threat to her life and physical and emotional well being. She is sacked from her job for brining the matter to the knowledge of top UN officials. 4) Some of the images of the victims of trafficking are quite graphic. Does the depiction of such degradation and violence enhance the moral perspective of the story? What was your reaction to the scenes of violence toward women? Response: The graphic scenes focusing on the violence and sexual aggression being inflicted on the victims of human trafficking in the movie The Whistleblower were not only imperative to accentuate the emotional and moral content of the story, but they also enhanced the human perspective in the overall plot. The irony is that considering the geographical locale of the movie that is Bosnia, many common Western citizens would have remained totally oblivious to the fact as to what it means to be a sex slave and a victim of human trafficking, if the director had not introduced much graphic images and scenes of sexual violence in the movie. The think that needs to be understood is that like many other crimes, human trafficking is a crime that involves much violence and abuse of human rights and dignity. Had the director not introduced into the screenplay, the scenes of sexual aggression and violence, it would have been next to impossible for the audiences to totally grasp as to what a crime like human trafficking involves. No doubt the sensitivity of many viewers may have been shocked and wounded by the depiction of scenes replete with violence on the women in the movie The Whistleblower. However, pragmatically speaking, this is what the director actually wanted to do, which is shock the viewers’ conscience regarding an inhuman crime like human trafficking. In a personal context, I totally support the inclusion of such graphic scenes in the movie. I found the scenes of violence focusing on the innocent and vulnerable women and children really utterly disturbing, sad and hurtful. But, then I seemed consolation in the realization that it was this overall emotive impact of the story that really pained my human conscience and made me so intensely hate the people and criminals who run and support the inhuman crime like human trafficking. It is because the movie extremely hurt the people by bringing in such graphic images and scenes that it eventually turned out to be morally so pithy and moving. The director did introduce violence in the movie, being moved by a sense of purpose. 5) Social injustice involves structures and systems, not just the acts of individuals. Where do you see evidence of informal and formal systems of injustice in the film? Why is it necessary to change both informal and formal structures to achieve justice? Response: In a serious sense, I believe that any injustice always has two aspects, one individual and other social. At an individual level, people can fight any social injustice, by not only standing up for the cause, but by also refraining oneself and their families from perpetrating that injustice. At a formal level, societies and states can fight social injustices like human trafficking by dedicating resources to the fight against such injustices, passing laws against social injustice, and coming down heavily on individuals and groups that perpetrate social injustice like human trafficking. In the movie The Whistleblower, human trafficking is shown to be encouraged by both the formal and informal custodians of power. At an informal level, in the movie, sex slavery existed because there existed Western personnel in the area who were not only rich, but who also intended to exploit the victims of sex slavery. The human traffickers in Bosnia ran their crime syndicate like a business, adhering to the principles of demand and supply. This does unravel a lacuna in the upbringing and education of the international personnel who found nothing wrong is exploiting women and children. At a formal level, in the movie The Whistleblower, the blame did lie on the UN, the US State Department and the Corporations which not only stayed quiet before the instances of rampant human trafficking, but many of their employees supported and were involved in rampant crime. Thereby the movie does show that social injustice is always the result of the abuse of formal and informal structures of power and to deal with human trafficking, one does need a response at both the levels. 6) Why has it taken so long for the general public to become more aware of the issue of trafficking? Why and how do people in power allow the injustice of trafficking to continue? Response: In the West, many a times people are unaware of human trafficking because our social and corporate structures are such that they make us live in a sanitized environment. It is like buying meat from a super market. Just because the meat people buy in the supermarkets comes packed in neat packs, people do not feel any personal issues regarding their diet. However, if one sees a butcher actually butchering a sheep say, one is bound to feel a bit disturbed and annoyed. This is because it brings one in immediate contact with an unsavory aspect of one’s diet. In a way the same could be said of human trafficking. People seldom know that many of the apparel and shoes they buy from some of the top Western fashion brands are actually manufactured in the third world nations where factories owners employ child labor and slave labor. Because people do not come to see such atrocities actually being committed, they remain unconcerned about them. However, once media takes a proactive stance and publishes such acts of human trafficking, people do develop concern for it. Hence, it took so long for the people to be aware of the issue of human trafficking because hitherto the formal and informal sources of education didn’t try to upbraid them about it. Sensitizing people about human trafficking requires concerted awareness and efforts. Read More