The Dollhouse in Reality
In a small dressing room in Los Angeles, a pretty brunette girl prepares for her big night. She’s going to a wedding, on the arm of her very wealthy boyfriend. Putting the finishing touches on her make-up, she studies herself in the mirror. Like any normal girl, her appearance is crucial to her. However, she is far from a normal girl. Her name is Echo, and she is a Doll.
Echo may be a fictional character, but the situation she and her fellow Dolls find themselves in is very real. They are caught up in the world of human trafficking, a crime the affects an estimated 800,000 victims worldwide. At least eighty percent of these victims are women and children under 18 (bible-knowledge). Every year in the US alone, anywhere from 16,500 to 60,000 people are forced into labor, slavery, and prostitution.
Victims of human trafficking are numerous, yet many of them don’t come forward. They are frightened, afraid that they or their families will be harmed. And local authorities often do not offer the protection that those victims that do step forward need, often risking recapture or worse by their traffickers. Many victims do not realize that there are people who want to help them. They are scared, ashamed, and feel alone.
Maria was promised a job with decent pay, to support her family, in the US. Sasha had dreams of becoming a model. Kit wanted a better life than what he had at home. Al was promised a good job, along with his brother. Of these four, only Maria was reunited with her family after being rescued. She built a case against her traffickers and was given a sense of justice. Kit was rescued and sent to a boys home. Al and Sasha were both left to wander a strange country after escaping; their families have no idea what happened to them to this day.
Human trafficking is a crime that is, sadly, rarely spoken of in the media. We turn a blind eye to the victims and pretend it doesn’t exist. Let’s go back to the example of Echo from the beginning. As a fictional character in Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse, Echo and others like her open our eyes to this underground world where humans are sold for a small profit. They are trapped by their loss of self, a chilling parallel to the loss of self felt by the real victims of this near-invisible crime.
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