Below is a film by Stephen Vidano produced and directed for iEmpathize. The content is disturbing and not for young eyes and ears. The stories presented in this movie are sobering, to say the least.
Human trafficking and the sex trade is alive and well. And it’s not just “over there.” It’s serious business, with an emphasis on the word “business.”
iEmpathize is an amazing organization that is utilizing the arts to bring awareness and life change to thousands of men and women, young boys and girls who are being exploited every day. Every night.
For these children the nightmare continues with out any way of escape. They can’t close their eyes to the issue. They can’t “turn it off.” They will never be able to say “I’ve had enough” unless you and I do something.
I want to thank everyone for their amazing contribution to this film. I am not the same because of it.
Founder of iEmpathize: BRAD RILEY. Location Video Footage: TIM HILL. Location Audio Recording: JESSIE MAREK. Still Photography: PETE GIBSON. Music by SON LUX. Director / Editor: STEPHEN VIDANO.
iEmpathizer is working towards eradicating child exploitation by empowering kids and communities that intersect with the issue. They produce media based human rights campaigns and curricula. They use a mix of film, photography, artifacts, and sounds to evoke empathy and engagement.
iEmpathize Mission
We equip adults to empower youth to eradicate exploitation.
EMPATHY
To empathize is to understand and actively respond to the suffering of others. Empathy inspires movements that shift cultural perspectives and lead toward the end of child exploitation.
Why Teach Exploitation Prevention?
The exploitation of minors is an alarming reality in the United States, and it comes in many forms: Bullying has evolved into an issue with often severe consequences. One in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually abused by age eighteen. And the commercial sexual exploitation of children in the U.S. is part of a thirty-two billion dollar criminal industry.
Perpetrators of crimes of sexual exploitation view schools as a prime location to recruit new pimps and lure new victims. These youth often have no idea what is really happening to them until it is too late. The purpose of The Empower Youth Program, therefore, is to equip students with strategies to stay safe from exploitation.
Read a survivor’s perspective on why prevention education should be taught in schools.
Read the Executive Summary.
Prevent And Identify Exploitation: Online Training: Equipping You to Recognize and Respond
- iEmpathize offers online training for adults equipping them to recognize and respond to and help eradicate exploitation.
- iEmpathize offers an innovative tool that equips adults to train teens in person with the power to save people and respond to bad situations that intend to take advantage of them.
- iEmpathize offers online training specifically designed for survivors of trafficking.
iEmpathize Work:
Documentary | Campaign Media | Multimedia Exhibits | Media Curricula
Through documentary style production, iEmpathize tells authentic stories from actual locations with a cinematic aesthetic. They customize media content to more effectively train and empower strategic demographics as well as the general public. They use a mix of film, photography, music, artifacts, illustration, animation, graphic design, integrated narratives, and more to communicate our
message.
iEmpathize Production Process:
Professional cinematographers, lighting and sound designers, editors, and graphic designers who believe in the mission of iEmpathize contribute their skills to iEmpathize media. These experts collaborate with us to tell the stories and capture the strategies to inspire ripples of empathy that lead to the eradication of child exploitation.
The iEmpathize production team has extensive experience capturing stories surrounding complex social issues in dozens of countries and cultures. Each member of our group is a relentless advocate for people. This passion is infused into each of our projects. The team has diverse production experience with award winning documentaries, feature films, TV and broadcast, photo-journalism, ad agency media, media curricula and campaigns, and more.
iEmpathize Partners Include:
• Mexico’s Human Rights Commission
• Newsweek’s Women in the World Summit at Lincoln Center NY
• Fiesta Americana
• Children’s Hope Chest
• Truckers Against Trafficking
• The United Nations
• Healthy Coloradan Magazine
• Federal and local government entities, youth outreaches, schools, universities, businesses,
strategic industry/community sectors, and more.
iEmpathize is a 501(c)3 and all gifts are tax deductible.
