The Jammed…bringing human trafficking closer to home

The Focus – September 17th, 2007 by Sarah

If you want a truly confronting and completely gripping cinematic experience, I thoroughly recommend you get yourself off to your nearest artsy cinema and see The Jammed. This is perhaps easier said than done however, as I think at the moment it is being shown in all of five to ten artsy cinemas across New South Wales and Victoria, but that is beside the point. Go and see it. It is brilliant. The end.

Just kidding.

The Jammed is about human trafficking. You know, where young girls (and boys, but this film relates specifically to girls) are often unknowingly sold into the sex industry and treated as slaves, unable to escape for fear of violence being committed towards them or their families. They are often beaten, raped and generally treated like animals, trapped in bondage situations and forced to carry out degrading sexual acts against their will. The three main protagonists of The Jammed have left their home countries to earn enough money to create a better life for either themselves or their families, and ended up as sex slaves in an unknown country. They are completely at the mercy of abusive men who have stolen their passports, and take advantage of any opportunity they can to degrade them.

Pretty heavy stuff, huh? Lucky this is only a movie, and besides, this sort of stuff only happens in under-developed third world nations far, far away, right? Wrong. The Jammed is set in Australia, and largely takes place in an illegal brothel in Melbourne. A significant proportion of its content is actually based upon reports from real court cases, so whether we like it or not, this illegal sex trade is happening right now, in our country, right under our very noses.

I think what upsets me most about this whole thing is that the issue seems to be very much swept under the hypothetical carpet. Apparently, gaining financial support for The Jammed was not an easy task, with the major funding bodies of the Australian film industry refusing to help out, resulting in the creators of the film having to distribute it themselves, which is why it is only showing in about two and a half cinemas across Australia. Slight exaggeration I know, but really, I honestly think a film like this needs to be seen by as many people as possible, and this just isn’t going to happen with such limited distribution. Coincidence that funding was refused for a film about such a controversial issue? I think not.

After further researching human trafficking in Australia, I discovered a document which went to great lengths to emphasise that it is only a very small percentage of women from overseas who work in legal and illegal brothels against their will. Right. Only a small percentage. What a relief. So I guess it’s ok for such blatent exploitation to continue, as long as the majority of women are fine with it. Yes, these comments were made by a man.

So, I guess my point is, if you can, see The Jammed. It really opened my eyes to an issue of social justice that really isn’t spoken about enough in Australia today. Apart from that, it showcases some very fine Australian talent, and I think it’s important we support the Aussie film industry, even if it doesn’t support itself. If the nearest screening of this film is several hours away, call you local cinema and have a whinge. This film needs to be seen.

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