Slavery Inc.: The Untold Story of International Sex Trafficking

Lionhearted Mexican journalist and activist Cacho probes prostitution, pedophilia, and sex trafficking rings across Southeast Asia, South America, and beyond in the follow-up to her last investigative opus, an edition that put one of her targets behind bars. Cacho pulls back the curtain on red-light districts in both East and West hemispheres. She walks through Le Merced in Mexico City as a nun, reports on a Yakuza ceremony in Tokyo patrolled by Japanese police officers, and shares the stories of Iraqi prostitutes servicing American soldiers. Combining journalism and social activism with a problematic lack of objectivity, Cacho’s narrative nonfiction storytelling unfortunately reads less like a trained journalist’s writing and more like a human rights activist in need of a lesson in basic reporting. For example, the author attacks post-modern feminists without clarifying their argument until the very last pages. Writing in the first person, Cacho is overly intent on showcasing the challenges she faced as a female investigative reporter as well as ongoing death threats; her unfiltered impressions detract from what the book purports to be—the story of women bought and sold for pleasure. In a book about so vital a subject, Cacho’s finger-pointing and righteous sentimentality deflate these issues and the victims’ stories into a “could-have-been” call-to-action. Agent: Andrea Montego, Indent Literary Agency. (June)