“It happens to ‘dumb’ people overseas. It doesn’t affect me, or my life, at all"
“But the heroes of the film are the young Jane Does who courageously share their stories..
I am Jane Doe: A Must-See Film that will leave you on the edge of your seat!
I am Jane Doe is a documentary about young girls enslaved into sex trafficking in America. This film was published in the year of 2017. Mary Mazzio an award-winning documentary film director, CEO of 50 Eggs Inc, directed I am Jane Doe. Mazzio is known for being an Olympic athlete, former law firm partner, and is the Founder of 50 Eggs. This film was awarded at the Hollywood Film Festival and earned the best documentary feature. The film included two main characters J.S and M.A as well as their parents as they went through a journey of sharing their story and fighting back. Jessica Chastain, an award-winning actor was the narrator of this phenomenal, heartfelt documentary that shared love and bravery across the world.
“It happens to ‘dumb’ people overseas. It doesn’t affect me, or my life, at all. Watching this documentary rips apart that false assumption. Any American child, no matter the race, gender, sexuality, or socioeconomic status is at risk to be raped and repeatedly sold.” (IMBD)Young girls raped, beaten and taken advantage of all happening in America, being sold off a website. I am Jane Doe highlights a few of many young girls who have been raped and sold in America. Two girls M.A and J.S who asked to remain unidentified both suffered many wrongdoings at the hands of others. I am Jane Doe reveals the harsh reality of many young girls in America being sold and raped, but also the reality of our injustice legal system. “And indeed, Backpage has enlisted powerful allies in its free-speech argument, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Cato Institute — as well as some sex workers and nonprofits who argue that Backpage was actually helpful in making their work safer, and in identifying exploitative perpetrators.”(Hornaday 1) Backpage took many legal loopholes to work around losing millions of dollars by shutting down. Although it seems that child sex trafficking is immoral and disgusting, it still happens.
Many children always look for things they never had, love, money, friends, etc. These young girls are being tricked into thinking that there is someone who can solve all their problems. “Your just a product.”(I am Jane Doe, former pimp) Child Sex trafficking in America and every other country is a problematic issue. Child sex trafficking is wrong, and something needs to be done about it. "Pimps and their female accomplices dazzle girls by promising, “I will never let anything bad happen to you.” They get them hooked on heroin or meth—the “leash” that keeps them from running away, back home—then, through ads that use code such as “fresh off the boat,” sell them to be raped as many as twenty times a day" (Tad Friend). These predators are just seeing young girls as products to be sold and used over and over again. Unlike drugs, you can only sell one product once. But young girls, they can be sold repeatedly.
Child Sex trafficking “a polite term for being repeatedly raped” (I am Jane Doe).
In America you rarely hear about child sex trafficking, however, it happens across America and other countries as well. M.A a young girl from St. Louis who was 13 at the time was out with her friends at the mall, however, once her friends began to leave one went home and another left with many men in a car but she didn’t want to get in that car. Later a woman approached her claiming to help her get back home. “..helped her get back home.. and what she did was brought her into a life of hell” (I am Jane Doe). After M.A’s mother Kubiiki located her daughter through an escort section on Backpage after months of searching, she seen nude photos of her daughter referred to as “young and new”(I am Jane Doe). After being missing for 270 days M.A was found. However, when she was home Kubiiki later found out that her daughter had been raped, sold, beaten, stabbed, burned and humiliated. In the film, M.A claimed that after telling her mother what she had been through and that she wanted revenge.. her mother did too. Leading into Kubiiki filing a very much needed lawsuit against Backpage.
Around July 2010, a young girl from Seattle J.S had gone missing. J.S was missing for months at a time before contacting her mother to wish her a happy birthday. In that call, J.S had told her mother devasting news. “She told us she had been hurt, that she wasn’t a good person, and that we wouldn’t want her anymore” (I am Jane Doe). J.S was a normal American girl who was a violinist, soccer athlete and was involved in school activities. “I wanted to blame myself for my dad’s drinking for my mom crying all the time and her emotional breakdown…I wanted to blame myself even for the man who had taken me” (I am Jane Doe). Mazzio capturing the girls’ feelings on this traumatic situation that not only affected them but also their family as well, is quite impactful. These girls are getting a chance to be heard without the persona of being just a victim. They're seen as a child, daughter and most importantly someone brave enough to share out for others. In many cases like this, the abuser is seen as a victim of the situation as well as the actual victim. In this case, Mazzio uses supporting evidence like the court hearings, and proof of images to diminish Backpage’s pedestal proving they're not a victim to what goes on throughout their site.
These young girls suffered not only at the hands of their kidnappers, abusers, and Backpage, but also our legal system. Throughout the documentary I was livid, our legal system allowed Backpage to dismiss unjust cases. Child sex trafficking wasn’t the foundation of the website, people listing things to sell were the foundation of that website. I understand that Backpage wasn’t behind the sell and purchase of underage girls’ but they knowingly allowed it and did nothing. According to Lasarenko from Hollywood Reporter “ a former Backpage ‘moderator,’ his face obscured and voice distorted, explains how his job ostensibly was to flag offensive ads but actually involved tailoring the ads to use code words and emojis instead of red-flag language like ‘fresh off the boat’ and ‘Lolita.’ ” Backpage participated in the hidden sale of underage girls. Although they were not putting up ads, having a moderator who works for their company vetting ads to be sure that there were no flaggable codewords is unacceptable and sickening. That moderator knew of the harsh realities that went on, on that website. Therefore, the company is just as liable as he is.
Backpage had many lawsuits against them. Kubiiki, M.A’s mother tried contacting Backpage many times requesting that they remove the pictures of her daughter. However, not only did they waste her time they also denied her request to remove the photos. In which she then takes the matter to court. After eight months Kubiiki’s lawsuit against Backpage was finally decided. Backpage had called for her case to be dismissed due to the Common Decency Act. This protects websites from third-party content that may be posted. Kubiiki’s case was dismissed and Backpage had won. This website was able to get away with way too many things, the biggest being the sale of underage girls. As wrote by John Anderson from Washington Post “Mary gave a voice to what a lot of attorneys and nonprofit organizations have been working on for years…Mazzio simply hopes her film will spare a few children the horror recounted in the film.” I agree Mazzio helping to assist these girls in sharing their story is amazing and how she did it with the help of legal authorities, former pimps, people who worked for Backpage, and most importantly the parents is amazing.
“But the heroes of the film are the young Jane Does who courageously share their stories, along with their tireless parents and the local attorneys who have clearly made it their mission to find redress for their clients and amend the CDA, after being continually swatted down by courts with seemingly endless capacity for denial of the law’s real-world consequences.” (Hornaday) .Although Backpage was eventually shut down, the legal team still wasn’t quite satisfied. No amendment to Section 230 was enacted by congress to prevent websites from hosting child sex ads” (I am Jane Doe). Without the help of the girls’ mothers and countless others who helped them fight there battles those girls along with many other girls unnamed would have never seen any justice served. This documentary is a must-see one that can be viewed with mature audiences yet informed too younger audiences. This documentary can be one that shares hope and meaningful information to young girls.
Works Cited
Anderson, John. “A Movie about Online Sex-Trafficking Might Actually Get Laws Changed.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 19 May 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/a-movie-about-online-sex-trafficking-might-actually-get-laws-changed/2017/05/18/039c2824-3a50-11e7-a058-ddbb23c75d82_story.html.
Catsoulis, Jeannette. “Review: 'I Am Jane Doe' Takes Aim at Escort Ads.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 9 Feb. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/02/09/movies/i-am-jane-doe-review.html.
Friend, Tad. “‘I Am Jane Doe’ Takes on Backpage.” The New Yorker, The New Yorker, 9 July 2019, www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/01/16/i-am-jane-doe-takes-on-backpage.
Hornaday, Ann. “'I Am Jane Doe': A Disturbing Look at Internet-Enabled Exploitation.” The Washington Post, WP Company, 9 Feb. 2017, www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/i-am-jane-doe-a-disturbing-look-at-internet-enabled-exploitation/2017/02/09/119f1a9a-ec89-11e6-9973-c5efb7ccfb0d_story.html.
“I Am Jane Doe.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 10 Feb. 2017, www.imdb.com/title/tt6398054/.
“I Am Jane Doe.” Netflix, 4 Nov. 2019, www.netflix.com/title/80167459.
Linden, Sheri. “'I Am Jane Doe': Film Review.” The Hollywood Reporter, 8 Dec. 2017, www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/i-am-jane-doe-972185.
Last Updated 04/27/20