Caged No More takes on a real problem happening in the world today, but it is a tough topic – human trafficking. This is the slavery we deal with today. It doesn’t affect just third world countries. It is a visible problem of the U.S.
This movie is inspired by real events and stars Kevin Sorbo, Loretta Devine, Alan Powell, and Cassidy Gifford with appearances by Kathie Lee Gifford, Gov. Bobby Jindal and Natalie Grant.
In this story, Aggie Prejean is a retired nanny whose goddaughter, Macy, dies from apparently a drug overdose. Macy tells Aggie to save her daughters from their father shortly before she expires in her arms. Aggie shares what she has been told to her niece, Leona, as they try to grasp the meaning to Macy’s departing words.
Aggie discovers that the girls’ father, Jack, has a twin brother named Richard DuLonde (both played by Sorbo). Aggie poses as hired help at a charity event to try and get close to Richard. Aggie is caught by security and thankfully Lottie, Richard’s wife, is willing to hear Aggie’s plea for help in locating the two girls, Elle and Skye.
Aggie was under the impression that Skye was going to school in London and that Elle was there with her dad to visit her. With the help of Richard, his son Wil, who was a member of special forces, and a few of his pals, they discover that Jack plans to sell Elle as a way to recover from his drug debts and has taken her to Greece.
Wil, his buddy Tyler, and Aggie arrive in Athens to try and bring 14-year-old Elle back. Jack has Elle believing that she is over there to enter a beauty pageant, but he has plans to sell her to a local brothel owner. Wil connects with Aeton after they land, an old buddy from the Greek version of special forces, to help in his crusade of bringing back Elle and also try to locate Skye who is not in the art school at London like Aggie was led to believe.
Caged No More has a run time of 1:30 and is rated PG-13.
There is a chilling statistic stated in Caged No More – Someone is trafficked every 30 seconds. Human trafficking is broken down into two broad categories: sex trafficking and labor trafficking.
The Polaris Project, one of the most well-known non-governmental anti-trafficking organizations, claims that around 17,500 people are trafficked into the U.S. each year. Globally, the U.S. Department of State estimates that there are 20 million people enslaved around the world but that only a tiny fraction of them are ever identified as victims of human trafficking. – Source: http://www.hngn.com/articles/168167/20160111/national-human-trafficking-awareness-day-2016-three-thousand-people-affected.htm
With serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA, I met an interesting young gentleman who served with a nonprofit in Minnesota that helps sexually trafficked and exploited youth. Here are a few statistics that he shared. They are heartbreaking.
The average age that children enter into prostitution in the U.S. is 12-14 years old. – Innocence Lost National Initiative; Joint Initiative with Department of Justice
Life expectancy after entering prostitution is seven years. – Adolescent Girls in the United States Sex Trade: Tracking Studying Results for May 2010 by the Shapiro Group
Minnesota and other states do have the Safe Harbor Law to try and help sexually exploited and trafficked youth. The Minnesota Safe Harbor Law states that Minnesota youth who engage in prostitution will no longer be seen as criminals, but instead as victims and survivors. The Safe Harbor Law treats these youth with dignity and resp
ect, and directs them to appropriate supportive services, including shelter and housing.
Caged No More is available in stores now and is part of a trilogy. To learn more, please visit http://www.cagednomoremovie.com/.
Disclosure: I received a copy of Caged No More for this review. No other compensation was received for this post.
