Excerpted from http://www.tradeofinnocentsmovie.com/: [CMDA member] Dr. Bill and Laurie Bolthouse have been passionately pursuing health care and justice issues for the past few years in such diverse places as Macedonia, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe and India. This recent foray into film is their attempt to leverage their impact in championing the cause of victims of child sex trafficking. The story of Trade of 
Innocents, set in the seedy brothels of Cambodia, is close to their hearts as Bill and Laurie’s paths have intertwined with a few of these precious girls rescued from sex slavery and the brave men and women who labor tirelessly to help them. Their three teenage daughters Meredith, Madison and Molly actively participated with them on the set in Bangkok, Thailand. They reside in Littleton and Breckenridge, Colorado.
Innocents, set in the seedy brothels of Cambodia, is close to their hearts as Bill and Laurie’s paths have intertwined with a few of these precious girls rescued from sex slavery and the brave men and women who labor tirelessly to help them. Their three teenage daughters Meredith, Madison and Molly actively participated with them on the set in Bangkok, Thailand. They reside in Littleton and Breckenridge, Colorado.
The story: In the back streets of a tourist town in present-day Southeast Asia, we find a filthy cinder block room; a bed with soiled sheets; a little girl waits for the next man to use her. Alex, a human trafficking investigator, plays the role of her next customer as he negotiates with the pimp for the use of the child. Claire, Alex’s wife, is caught up in the flow of her new life in Southeast Asia and her role as a volunteer in an aftercare shelter for rescued girls. Claire and Alex both still are dealing with their grief of losing a child years earlier. As both of them struggle in their own way to overcome the pain of their past and realities of child exploitation where they now live and work, they find themselves being pulled together into the lives of local neighborhood girls whose freedom and dignity are threatened. Parallel story lines intertwine and unfold twists against the backdrop of the dangerous human trafficking world, in a story of struggle, life, hope and redemption in the Trade of Innocents.
CMA Vice President for Government Relations Jonathan Imbody: "I enjoyed the privilege of meeting with the Bolthouses during a two-day event that integrated a preview of their movie with a symposium on human trafficking. The symposium, held at Yale Law School, included an address by Lou CdeBaca, U.S. ambassador at large for anti-trafficking in persons, and a video greeting from Sec. of State Hillary Clinton. The Trade of Innocents movie is due out this Fall and will include CMDA among a resource list of organizations fighting human trafficking."CMA has worked with the U.S. Department of State, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to develop and encourage efforts to educate health care professionals on how to recognize, report and treat victims of human trafficking. To that end, CMDA staff and members, led by Global Health Outreach director Dr. Don Thompson and CMDA member Dr. Jeff Barrows, have developed online curricula that carries AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM and AGD PACE Credit.
"Data suggest that health care professionals can play a lifesaving role in identifying and reporting victims of human trafficking. Consider taking the time to begin our online course to equip yourself and others to save lives. And when Trade of Innocents comes to a theater near you this fall, take some friends and colleagues to see it.”
Christian Doctor's Digest interview with Dr. Bill and Laurie Bolthouse
Trade of Innocents Story
CMDA Human Trafficking Resource Pages
Human Trafficking Continuing Education Credits
I find it particularly sad that people from developed countries are traveling to an impoverished country like Cambodia to prey on children. Cambodians generally look up to foreigners, particularly Westerners, as role models for fairness, benevolence, freedom and justice. The acts of the sex tourists are threatening to undermine the good deeds of those foreigners who are in Cambodia to do good.
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