Calle 13, MTV Latin America and PADF Present Documentary at Launch of Next Phase of the MTV EXIT Campaign to End Exploitation and Human Trafficking
Calle 13 joins MTV Latin America and the Pan American Development
Foundation (PADF) to launch an animated documentary titled Invisible
Slaves about human trafficking as part of a country-wide effort
between the Mexican government, private sector companies, and civil
society groups to increase awareness and prevent human trafficking among
youth.
With Mexico becoming a growing destination, source, and transit country
for trafficked persons, PADF supported the founding of the Alliance
Against Human Trafficking in Mexico and has worked closely with MTV
Latin America to fight a problem that each year affects thousands of
women, youth and children, among them many migrants from Central
America, who are lured by false promises of higher wages and better
opportunities.
In Mexico we are confronted not only with a human trafficking problem,
but also with a growing epidemic that is destroying the lives of tens of
thousands of youths. Through PADFs partnership with MTV Latin America,
this documentary provides a way to effectively communicate preventive
messages that can reach vulnerable groups, especially children and
youth, and alert them of the dangers. It also supports the efforts of
Mexicos national and local governments to partner more closely with
civil society and the business community to reverse this modern form of
slavery, said Louis Alexander, PADF’s Senior Programs Director.
PADF is proud to have helped create this partnership with MTV Latin
America as well as the Alliance Against Human Trafficking in Mexico.
This effort clearly demonstrates how the public and private sectors can
leverage each others strengths and work together to tackle the social
problems that affect our communities, said Paul Fisher, Director of
Corporate Partnerships and Development at PADF.
Since 2004, MTV EXIT has produced award-winning media components on the
issue of human trafficking through influential music, film, and
celebrities, and distributed innovative and creative content to youth
audiences in Latin America, Asia and Europe. Through successful
initiatives, PADF has also been engaged in empowering youth throughout
Latin America and the Caribbean and protecting human rights,
particularly in countries such as Haiti and the Dominican Republic where
cross-border trafficking of Haitian children for domestic servitude has
been widespread.
Once again, MTV Latin America joins the fight against this serious
problem that affects all by presenting four separate stories in the Invisible
Slaves series in which one can observe very clear messages that
society does not often see. All too often traffickers exploit the
desires of young people and deceive them with false promises of
prosperity. As a result, many become trapped and no one notices because
they think if they try to escape, they will suffer physical harm or
death, said Mario Cáder-Frech, Vice President Public Affairs and
Corporate Social Responsibility for Viacom International Media Networks
(VIMN) The Americas.
Award-winning Calle 13 band members René Joglar and Eduardo Cabra are
the presenters of the animated documentary titled Invisible Slaves
(The Animation), an 18-minute production that aims to bring
attention to a global issue that is affecting Latin America, but in
particular Mexico where the problem is most severe. The film will
premiere on MTV Latin America channels on August 31 and will be
available online starting today on www.matla.com.
The film includes four first-person accounts of trafficking involving
youths, which MTV Latin America filmed in Mexico and Guatemala. The
broadcast of this documentary will carry a message to a young audience
and offer an up close look at this problem. It will make viewers aware
and that this is a serious problem that exists throughout Mexican
society.
The first portion of the documentary tells the story of Jose, a
Salvadoran immigrant in Guatemala who was drawn into selling drugs and
suffered neglect and exploitation. The second part is the testimony of
Laura, a young Mexican woman who from age 17 was tricked and forced into
prostitution and later escaped. The third story describes a Mexican girl
named Marcela who at 13 years of age was caught up in a prostitution
ring. The final story is of Maria from Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico, who
after becoming an orphan went to live in a home where she was abused and
exploited.
Prior to the documentary screening, René of Calle 13 sent a message to
the media and participating audience reaffirming their commitment to
working to end exploitation and trafficking, which, as they indicated,
really motivates them.
René said: Like you, we want to see a Mexico free of trafficking where
the voice of so many young people will never be silenced. That’s why we
supported MTV EXIT and its collaboration with the Pan American
Development Foundation (PADF) to promote this important cause. We hope
that the stories of these young survivors will reach out to Mexican
youth and have an impact across the country.
Human trafficking is the slavery of the 21st century, and
youth are its primary victims, said René, who helped launch the MTV
EXIT Latin America campaign with fellow band member Eduardo earlier this
year at UNICEF headquarters in the United Nations in New York City. The
MTV premiere of Invisible Slaves was held today in an exclusive
event reserved to the media with the participation of Alliance
representatives and special guests.
Also, attending the documentary premiere was actress Kate del Castillo,
spokesperson for the campaign Tu Voz Contra la TrataYour Voice
Against Traffickingand Ambassador Against Human Trafficking for
Mexicos National Human Rights Commission (CNDH), an entity that is part
of the Alliance. She spoke about her commitment to this cause and
commented on the documentary produced by MTV Latin America in
collaboration with PADF and the Alliance.
Human trafficking affects us all. Let there be no doubt. Every day it
is hurting our society and it will continue to do so until we all work
together to raise awareness, inform, and protect the most vulnerable in
Mexico: children, youth and women. Today the movement against human
trafficking in Mexico has grown and will continue to do so with the
support of partners like PADF, MTV Latin America, CNDH and others who
are part of the new Alliance Against Trafficking in Mexico. I invite
others to join in this effort, she said.
With support from Cinépolis Foundation and in coordination with
Telefónica Foundations Proniño program, the documentary will
travel to seven states in southern and central Mexico, including
Chiapas, Oaxaca, Veracruz, Puebla, Hidalgo, Guerrero and the Federal
District as part of the Ruta Cinépolis, a series of outdoor film
presentations that will reach thousands of children, youth and families
living in communities where the problem of human trafficking is acute.
The documentary is an important component of the Alliances Tu Voz
Contra la TrataYour Voice Against Traffickingcampaign which
closely supports the broader MTV EXIT initiative. The campaign will
continue to expand in Mexico through mass media broadcasts of the
documentary, social media activism, a national poster campaign, and
local events that involve children and youth.
Tu Voz Contra la Trata stems from the Alliance Against Human
Trafficking in Mexico which includes MTV Latin America, Telefónica
Foundation, Cinépolis Foundation, the Pan American Development
Foundation, the National Center for Human Rights (CNDH), the Secretariat
of Communications and Transportation, (SCT) and the Colectivo Contra
la Tratathe Collective Against Human Trafficking. Both documentary
and campaign aim to increase the awareness of the risks of human
trafficking, measure the knowledge young people have about the issue,
engage young people through education and calls for action to prevent
further trafficking, and provide them with new opportunities to
communicate through social networking platforms.
For more information please visit:
www.mtvexit.org
www.tuvozcontralatrata.org
www.padf.org/tuvozcontralatrata
Facebook:
MTVExitla
tuvozcontratalatrata
Twitter:
@MTVExitla
@tuvozcontralatrata
#hablemosporellos
Google+
tuvozcontralatrata
About PADF
PADF is the development and relief arm of the Organization of American
States, established in 1962 to implement integral socio-economic
development programs for disadvantaged people, to strengthen civil
society and community groups in support of the Inter-American Democratic
Charter, and to aid victims of natural disasters and humanitarian
crises. In 2011, it helped more than 7.5 million beneficiaries in 23
countries. www.padf.org
About Telefónica Foundation
Telefónica Foundation contributes to social development through access
to knowledge. It does so through its own innovative social programs that
use information technologies and communication (TIC), in addition to
collaborative networks. In 2010, Telefónica Foundation invested 80
million Euros, worked with more than 800 educational, social, public and
private entities, and implemented almost 5,000 initiatives that
benefitted more than 37 million people in 14 countries. www.fundacion.telefonica.com/es
About Cinépolis
Cinépolis is the worlds 5th largest movie theater circuit, operating
more than 2,000 screens in 6 countries and serving more than 100 million
patrons annually. The company aspires to provide its patrons the best
overall experience in filmed entertainment and employs a global
workforce of 13,000 people to support its mission. Founded in 1971,
Cinépolis is privately held and is headquartered in Morelia, Mexico. www.Cinépolis.com
About MTV Networks Latin America
MTV Networks Latin America, US Hispanic & Canada, US Hispanic & Canada,
a unit of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), owns and operates the
companys portfolio of entertainment brands, which include MTV, VH1,
Nickelodeon and their respective properties in Spanish speaking Latin
America as well as Viacom Networks Brazil. Additionally, the portfolio
includes Tr3s: MTV, Música y Más in the US, which targets a broad US
Hispanic audience, and MTV Networks Internationals programming
partnerships in Canada with Corus Entertainment for Nickelodeon and CTV
Globe Media for MTV, Comedy Central and Vh1. The companys emerging
multiplatform businesses include MTVNHD and Red Viacom in Latin America
as well as VH1HD in Brazil. MTV Networks Latin America, US Hispanic and
Canada also serve the growing number of digitally connected consumers
via its websites: www.MTVla.com,