Lucy Liu Presents MTV Human Trafficking Doc

SINGAPORE/HONG KONG,
November 20: Actress Lucy Liu, star of the new ABC series Cashmere Mafia, will present Traffic: An MTV
EXIT Special, a
documentary on human trafficking that premieres in Singapore today.

The documentary is aimed at raising awareness and
increasing prevention of human trafficking in the Asia Pacific. The program is
the lead feature of the MTV EXIT campaign across
Asia and the Pacific, an expansion of the successful MTV EXIT European campaign
that launched in Europe in 2004. MTV EXIT television programming is produced
rights-free and free of charge for all broadcasters and organizations.

Lucy Liu joins other Asian celebrities, including
Korea’s pop icon Rain, Thailand’s Tata Young, Greater China’s Karen Mok, and
Bollywood star and former Miss Universe Lara Dutta, to raise awareness about
this issue. A number of different
language versions of the documentary have been produced, including English,
Korean, Thai, Japanese, Mandarin, Tagalog and Vietnamese, among others. MTV is
also working closely with broadcasters in other territories to produce more
language versions with local celebrities.

Traffic tells the stories of real people who unknowingly
became part of the trafficking chain, including Anna, who was trafficked from
the Philippines and forced into prostitution; Eka, an Indonesian woman
trafficked into forced domestic servitude and a life of slavery; and Min Aung
from Burma, who was trafficked to Thailand and imprisoned for two years in a
factory. Their stories are told alongside other people in the trafficking
chain, including a trafficker from the Philippines who has been forcing girls
into prostitution for over 20 years and a woman who runs a shelter in Singapore
for victims of trafficking and other abuses. The documentary also provides
information on how individuals can protect themselves against trafficking, as
well as what people can do to help end exploitation and trafficking.

"Human trafficking
has become a critical human rights issue facing young people across Asia and
the Pacific,” said Bill Roedy, the vice chairman of MTV Networks. “Victims are
subject to horrendous abuses, including rape and torture, with women and girls
particularly affected. MTV EXIT is part of our commitment to highlighting
issues affecting young people in Asia and across the world, and we are
delighted that Lucy Liu is joining us and lending her powerful voice to the
fight against trafficking and exploitation.”

—By Irene Lew