Saving The Girls

Nick and I watched a disturbing documentary on television last night.

Ex Australian Federal Police officer Denis Gray teams up with his mate Christopher Payne and another ex AFP officer named David Thompsett to go to Subic Bay in the Philippines. Their goal is to set up a sting operation to shut down a club where underage girls work as prostitutes.

The documentary was filmed by Luigi Acquisto and is called "Children of the Sex Trade."

At the same time these men are carrying out their investigation, an ABC television crew is also there investigating the American who owns the club and keeps an underage girl he calls "Princess" as his personal play object.

His name is Arthur Benjamin.

He grins creepily while being interviewed and tries unsuccessfully to pass himself off as a human being.

When speaking about Princess he says:

"She was hungry, she needed someone to take care of her. I'm in. You know what I want."

"But if she fucks up, does something I don't like, I kick her out, doesn't bother me. There is always another one."

It's as if someone re-wrote the character Humbert Humbert, stripping him of all intellect and charm and inflating his sense of male entitlement to the maximum-only this is no fictional creation, Benjamin is real.

And of course there are others like him. They come from America, Australia and the local area.

They rationalize what they are doing by saying that they are giving the girls money to feed their families.

One guy advises the undercover reporters not to try to wrap their minds around the issue too much.

If you stop to think of the girls as humans it takes the fun out of using them apparently.

Also, the last time I checked it was perfectly legal to help someone else out financially without demanding sexual favors in return.

The AFP group get in touch with an NGO called PREDA which was founded by Father Shay Cullen.

His organisation says their goal is to give girls rescued from the sex trade a better life.

Through Cullen, the AFP men are able to convince two sisters, Michelle and Marisol into helping them build a case against Benjamin and his business, "The Crow Bar."

I had a lot of issues with this documentary.

I'll start with the way the two sisters are treated.

It's obvious they are uncomfortable and fearful about ratting out the bar owner and the "mama san" or woman who runs the club and acts like a pimp.

There are reported "death squads" in the area who carry out extra judicial killings against people who speak out and the girls are obviously putting their lives in danger.

The men interview Michelle about how she was abused by an Australian man when she was 14 and how her mother basically sold her into that life.

While she cries and seems traumatized the men focus on pressuring her and Marisol into signing the statements that will ensure their success in bringing down Benjamin.

At one point Marisol disappears and all the men can think about is how that will affect their sting.

They don't seem concerned about the reasons that would cause Marisol to hide from them.

PREDA stresses the importance of giving the girls who are victimized a real childhood. They show images of children in a religious service led by Father Cullen.

It's obvious that their help comes with a healthy dose of Catholic dogma.

While this group seems like the girls' best chance of getting help, I hate to see that help have religious expectations attached to it.

Isn't it possible Catholic values that teach birth control is wrong, women are inherently inferior to men and that sex is only for procreation might be doing harm as well?

It seems like you can't afford to ask those questions because the way the girls would live without the organization would be so much worse.

The documentary shows this area of the Philippines as an economically depressed place where income and gender equality are in short supply.

I know Father Cullen wants to give the girls a normal childhood but what comes after that?

Let's say a girl finishes her basic education. What is there for her to do to afterwards earn money and have a better life?

Basically, there are a plethora of seedy bars filled with a host of Omega males waiting to live out their slimiest fantasies.

There are  corrupt authorities willing to protect these businesses due to the kickbacks they receive.

What else is there?

Spoiler alert: The Filipino authorities, AFP guys, ABC guys and one U.S. Department of Homeland Security officer named Eric McLoughlin successfully carry out a raid on The Crow Bar.

McLoughlin seems to mistake the raid for a bust on a heavily armed gang as he shouts at a couch full of young girls, "I want to see your hands! Sit down! No talking!"

I am infuriated as I see this American-flavored power trip.

I wish someone would tell McLoughlin to sit down and not talk. It's not his country or his raid.

Hell, Benjamin doesn't even get sent to the States to face charges. He's locked up in Manila.

The most disturbing part in the documentary comes in the end when the AFP men are saying goodbye to Michelle. She is weeping while Gray gives her a kiss on the cheek. He then boards a plane back to the safety and comfort of his old life in Australia.

The documentary ends by saying both Michelle and Marisol have received death threats and gone into hiding.

I wonder why these brave crusaders couldn't have set the girls up with their own business in Manila or tried to get them refugee status in the U.S. or Australia?

Instead it's, "thanks and good luck with your life." You've served your purpose. It's been real.

Meanwhile the men are hailed as brave heroes and get to pretend to be humble public servants.

I predict the Crow Bar will be replaced with something equally sleazy, like a mushroom springing from a pile of shit.

Even now the sex trade is thriving in Subic Bay.

Until the issue of child prostitution is dealt with from every aspect that allows it to exist and thrive, the cycle will repeat.