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• Q & A with Ms. Sorvino
• Human Trafficking
• Ms. Sorvino's bio
• Amnesty International

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Tavis: I'm pleased to welcome Mira Sorvino to the program. The Oscar-winning actress has starred in films like "Mighty Aphrodite,' "The Replacement Killers," and 'Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.' Her latest project is a miniseries for Lifetime called "Human Trafficking." The two-part movie kicks off on October 24th. Mira, nice to have you on the program.

Mira Sorvino: Nice to be here. Thank you.

Tavis: This project, first of all, I want you to tell me about the project, and I wasn't surprised to learn that you were doing a project like this, given the work that you've done in real life around women's issues. But first tell me about the project.

Sorvino: Okay. It's called "Human Trafficking." It costars Donald Sutherland and Robert Carlyle, and it's about the trafficking of women and children into sexual slave labor both in this country and in other countries such as Thailand. And I play an ICE agent, which is an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent who is specifically trying to catch the trafficker who has taken this specific group of girls from Eastern Europe into the United States and forced them to be prostitutes.

Tavis: I mentioned a moment ago that I could see how you would be drawn to a project like this, because you have been involved in women's issues for some time now. You have spoken before Congress, of course, about these issues. So when a project like this comes across your desk, I assume that as opposed to everything else that's sitting on the desk, this one kind of jumps out at you, maybe?

Sorvino: Yeah. Well, I have been working for a couple of years with Amnesty International, I'm their 'Stop Violence Against Women' spokesperson. And when I read this, I thought, "Wow, this is a way that I could actually combine my acting career with my human rights interests.'

Tavis: This is the first time this has happened for you, that those two things overlap like that?

Sorvino: You know, - I did a film about Auschwitz, which was a great film that no one saw because it was just so dark, but, called "The Grey Zone.' And that was related to some of the interests that I have, but I wasn't specifically working with Amnesty then. So this way I thought well, I could actually get Amnesty to team up with Lifetime and we can promote the issue while promoting the project, and raise awareness around the country about the - need for work to be done on this issue for women who have been trafficked, for children who have been trafficked. And - there's about - between 70,000 to 50,000 women and children trafficked into the US every year.

Tavis: Into the US?

Sorvino: Into the US. We are a demand country. And I should say that it's only about 50% of the cases that are sexual slave labor. There's all kinds, basically, trafficking is slavery. I mean, they call it trafficking. And you can get confused. But it basically means that someone has been fraudulently put into a situation where they are forced to work and not paid for their services.

And they're basically kept by owners. They are slaves. So although we thought slavery was over in the 19th century and our 13th amendment, it's alive and well and growing, because it's a very profitable trade. It's the third most profitable illegal trade besides guns and - drugs.

Tavis: Drugs, yeah.

Sorvino: Yeah.

Tavis: I suspect there are probably folk watching right now, and I am aware of this because of the work I do on radio and TV and trying to stay on top of issues like this, certainly where people of color are concerned. But I suspect there are folk watching right now, who, one, don't really understand, believe, aren't accepting, were not aware of the fact that this kind of illicit and illegal behavior happens in the world to begin with, number one. But I know there are - probably folk watching right now who are thinking there is no way that we allow folk to be trafficked as human slaves into this country.

Sorvino: Well, I think a lot of people don't know what to look for as the signs of it. I mean, recently there was this big El Monte bust where all these Thai nationals had been trafficked and then they were working as factory labor. And neighbors saw that there was razor wire surrounding the property that they were living on, but facing in like at a prison or at a concentration camp. And nobody knew what to make of it.

So this went on for years and nobody called and said, 'Hey, there is you know, like prison wire around this house. People seem to be trapped inside.' There was a little girl in Culver City, nine years old, who had been brought in from Egypt as a house slave to this family, and the neighbors saw this little girl who never played with the other kids, didn't go to school, and at 3:00 AM was mopping the floors and slept in the garage. And they finally called Social Services and that led them to bust the family and save the girl. I have spoken to two women who were trafficked who live right in this area.

One was trafficked as sweatshop labor in a dressmaking factory, and the other one was sold to a pedophile at age 15 as his personal slave to do with whatever he wanted. And let me tell you, it is very real and the most tragic thing you have ever heard when you look into the eyes of somebody who has been completely and utterly degraded by another human being, and told that they are worthless and that nobody cares about them, and that they are worth less than a dog. You realize that, unfortunately, slavery is alive and well in our country and around the world.

Now, there's about a million people a year estimated globally to be trafficked. So it's incredibly sad and the way that they find trafficking cases, the way that they bust them is that neighbors notice. That's what everyone told me. The victims, CAST, which is the Coalition to Abolish Slavery and Trafficking and the ICE agents I met with, the district attorney's representatives I met with.

They all said people need to know that this is occurring and that they need to look for the signs. And once they see something, even johns who use prostitutes have reported people that they said, "You know what? I don't think the girls were there willingly. I think they're being forced.'

And that's how they've broken certain cases. So I think that the miniseries is a great entry into the world of trafficking. I mean, it only covers sexual slave labor, and you know, as I said, only 50% of the cases are sexual. There's all kinds of slave labor that's used. But it's very gripping, very exciting and it also gets you to very much care about the characters so that you can relate to the situation.

Tavis: I think when we think about the issue of trafficking more broadly, the only thing that seems to get any traction in terms of real conversation is the issue of illegal immigration. So that we talk about people coming into the country, we - can't seem to get enough of this conversation where we want to talk about people who are coming across the borders illegally, and what are we going to do about illegal immigration.

But again, there isn't enough conversation about the fact that there are people who are brought here into this country against their will who are brought here illegally, who are being used as slaves. I guess the question is, how do we get traction on that discussion, and how does a movie like this, how do we use the arts in this case to get that kind of conversation going? Since we can't seem to get enough of the other one?

Sorvino: Yeah, well I think one of the things, also, just to make clear is that once these women, or children, and sometimes men, because migrant farm workers are also trafficked. When they have been rescued, basically, from their bondage, they are not treated as criminals; they are treated as victims. And actually, the current term for trafficking victims is actually survivors, because they don't want to pin them with the stigma of being permanently damaged by the situation, although it is very, very traumatic.

But I think that the film - I mean, will very clearly show you that it's not an immigration issue, it's - a result of worldwide poverty, basically, source countries have very poor villages. People don't have any work. They often prey; the traffickers look for women who are single-family mothers, single mother families who are supporting their families.

And they give them an opportunity to say, "Look, you can make a lot more money with us. You're going to get to be a nanny. Or you're going to get to be a maid. And we're going to arrange your papers for you and we're going to get you in, no problem.' Blah, blah, blah. One of the women I spoke to actually had been brought through the American border openly, so apparently, they somehow worked her a visa and she had been told that she was going to work sewing dresses.

And when she got there, she was made a prisoner in this factory and wasn't allowed to leave, or shower, or use electricity, or anything; and beaten. But I think that people just don't know that much about it, and I think if you watch the film it's a pretty darn good picture - of what happens, and I think that, you know, we had it vetted by the ICE people, the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement people, and by Amnesty, they both read the script and they said "This is dead-on accurate. This is really right.'

Although when I met with the ICE people they were a little bit miffed because I lose a victim in it, like you know, she's in witness protection, and somehow the traffickers find her and they said, "We've never,' the LA ICE office - they have never lost a trafficking victim once they've rescued them, so I'm a bad - agent. I'm green.

Tavis: It's just a movie. It's just a movie. I wonder if, if and how being a mother, you have a daughter who is, like, 11?

Sorvino: 11 months, yeah.

Tavis: 11 months old now. So when you talk about these women who are single mothers, of course you're married. But the whole issue of motherhood, how does that, how did it impact your processing a movie like this, if at all?

Sorvino: There is another section of the film that - there's three different stories that sort of weave together, and there is one of the stories that takes place in Thailand, where an American girl is kidnapped into a sexual slavery situation where she's going to be sold to the highest bidder. And I think, you know, if people can think of their own children as potential victims for this sort of thing, I think it hits home a lot more. And I cannot imagine my daughter in this circumstance.

I mean - I don't ever want to let her walk, when she can walk, she's gonna always be accompanied, you know. It's just such a dangerous world out there for girls and, you know, children at this stage, there seems to be so much - so much pedophilia and abduction taking place. It's really terrifying. But the more we educate ourselves, the more that we can take action, the stronger our legislation is combating trafficking, the more we can make this an - inhospitable climate for traffickers to work in. And maybe not as many people will be trafficked into the US.

Also, people look to the United States as the bellwether for - legislation and for toughness on international crime. And we are not yet signatory to the UN's bill on trafficking, although it may happen this month. And that's important because if we say it's important to work internationally with other law enforcement agencies to stop trafficking all over the world, then other countries will take it seriously too, ones that right now may be sort of like "Well, that's not very important to us.'

Tavis: And speaking of your daughter, I can't imagine that she won't follow in her mother's footsteps and be the kind of advocate you are, particularly given, as I recall, that you testified once while you were pregnant with her.

Sorvino: I did. Well, I spoke; I went to Capitol Hill. I met with a number of senators and congresspeople, and then had an evening reception where a number of them were there, and talked to them about Darfur, about the Sudan, and the genocide that is still occurring there.

Tavis: So it's in her blood in more...

Sorvino: Well, my mom walked on...

Tavis: Your mom was an activist, absolutely.

Sorvino: Yeah. She marched on Washington with Dr. Martin Luther King. And at one point they brushed arms, and that's like her big thrill.

Tavis: "I rubbed up against him one time.' Let me ask you right quick. I, obviously, you are drawn to these projects that have something to say. This isn't a dark project, per se, as you mentioned the Auschwitz project was, but you are drawn to projects clearly that have something to say. But there's got to be something like silly and funny and humorous in the offing that you're looking at, or about to...

Sorvino: I certainly hope so. I've just read something that makes me laugh out loud, but I don't know that I'm doing it yet, so I can't talk about it. But I would love to do a comedy next, and actually, my husband - has written a comedy that hopefully I'm going to be in, and he's going to direct. So we're really looking forward to that. Just a little bit of levity.

Tavis: Well, we'll check you out on Lifetime first. First Lifetime, then the levity. Nice to have you here, Mira.

Sorvino: Thank you very much.

Tavis: An honor to meet you. That's our show for tonight. You can catch me on the weekends on PRI, Public Radio International. Check your local listings. I'll see you back here next time on PBS. Until then, good night from Los Angeles. Thanks for watching, and, as always, keep the faith.