UNICEF Philippines hosts premiere of new Stairway Foundation film on child sex trafficking

Today UNICEF Philippines hosts the premiere of “Red Leaves Falling,” an animated film telling a story about child pornography and child sex trafficking. The film premieres in Makati, which belongs to the greater metropolitan area surrounding Manila.“Red Leaves Falling” tells the story of two young girls “drawn into the seedy world of child prostitution and pornography,” and their struggle to escape their imposed situation, as reported in the Human Trafficking In Asia blog. The film is part of an advocacy series created by the Stairway Foundation, a non-profit organization based in the Philippines. The animated films are designed to be appropriate for audiences of all ages. The Stairway Foundation hopes to bolster awareness of the problems of child pornography and child sex trafficking in order to help ratify a new law that would make possessing child pornography illegal, as reported in their promotional materials for the June 2 event. Previous Stairway Foundation animated films include “Daughter,” which portrays a child sexually abused by her father, and “A Good Boy,” about a child abused by a pedophile. Both films have won awards at international film festivals. In the printed narrative of “Red Leaves Falling,” published on the Stairway Foundation website, a wealthy stranger leaves money with an impoverished mother in order to take her young daughter away. In a heartbreaking and vividly described subsequent scene, the young girl must perform before an adult male audience while trying to take comfort in her memories of home. For more information:http://www.stairwayfoundation.org