AllMovie

Producer Ric Esther Bienstock blows the lid off of a multi-billion dollar underground industry by exposing the global sex trade in women from the former Soviet Bloc. The fastest growing form of crime in Eastern Europe, according to the International Herald Tribune, human trafficking is often misunderstood, and widely tolerated. Sex Slaves takes viewers to Moldolva and Ukraine, where traffickers frequently take advantage of desperate women seeking to travel abroad and earn a decent living. By telling the tale of a Ukrainian husband named Viotel, the filmmakers put a human face on an inhuman act. Viotel's pregnant wife has just fallen victim to traffickers in Turkey. Now, in order to find and rescue the mother of his unborn child, Viotel -- a loving husband -- must pose as a human trafficker. His only lead is the phone number of the pimp whom he believes currently has his wife. As Viotel attempts to follow the trail of treachery and purchase his wife back, hidden cameras track his every move. Interwoven with Viotel's story are interviews with the victims, traffickers, and families that have been affected by the trade in human flesh. Additional visits to England and Canada reveal that sex trafficking isn't restricted to the villages of Moldova and Ukraine, but often occurs in major cities throughout the modern world.