A Journey with Emma Thompson

Posted: 14 February 2008

The picture is all over the newspapers. British actress Emma Thompson with no shoes on, sitting on the podium of the Austrian Parliament.

For those of us who witnessed this performance, it deserved an Oscar. She ran about, cried, tore out her hair - waking up an audience of sleepy parliamentarians with a moving monologue from the perspective of a trafficking victim. It was a spectacle never seen before in such hallowed halls. The mock trial that followed kept the audience glued to their seats. 

After that Emma and I (she calls me Antonio) walked up the street to Heldenplatz in front of the Hofburg. And there, in stark contrast to the imperial grandeur of the palace, were seven graffiti-covered containers with the word "Journey" lit up in faux fairground lights.

She led me through the containers that expose you to the sights, sounds, and even smells of being a victim of human trafficking. There was graphic price list of sexual services. The plight of the women who have actually experienced such an ordeal is beyond imagining. The trauma in their minds must be as severe as the physical abuse suffered by their bodies. 

I encouraged Emma to replicate this Journey to depict other aspects of human trafficking: like what it must be like to be a child solider, work in a sweat shop, or slave labour.

Every major city should host such an exhibit to open the eyes of the public to this crime that shames us all.