Tales from the Organ Trade is a documentary done by Ric Esther Bienstock. The movie presents the dark world of illegal buying and selling of human body organs. It features brokers in the black market streets, rogue surgeons, and the poor individuals who are ready to sell a part of their bodies to get quick money. The documentary also addresses the issue of desperate sick individuals who are torn between abiding by the laws or save their own lives. The experiences of individuals who have received organ transplants are different from those of people who sell them and the doctors involved. The movie focuses on an organ trafficking and transplant clinic located in Kosovo, a surgeon from Turkey, a facilitator from Israel, and a prosecutor from Canada. Also, the documentary features a man from Toronto who buys from a woman living in Moldova for transplantation. Some men from Philippine, mainly laborers, are also presented in the movie with scars that don't heal as expected due to lack of follow up. Bienstock in the documentary interviews some key individuals involved in the business of organ trafficking in the black market. Yusuf Sonmez is a doctor who operates black market organ facilities in both Turkey and Yugoslavia. To conduct an organ transplant, he charges his patients around $100,000 (Bienstock, 2013). Individuals are turning to illegal organ transplant activities because of desperation (Bienstock, 2013). Bienstock in the movie proposes a need for solutions and the need for people to be able to think thoughts that are not comfortable.
How the Documentary Supports What has been learned in class
The film supports what has been learned in class and does not differ from it. The movie affirms that the issue of organ trafficking as studied in class is a global and major problem. Organ trafficking has turned out to be a lucrative international illegal trade (Hentrich, 2014). The trade is, in most cases, not discussed when talking about human trafficking because of its stealth state (Scheper-Hughes, 2017). Sex and labor trafficking are commonly discussed forms of human trafficking in awareness and policy. However, trafficking of organs occupies a critical position in internationally organized criminal groups because of the increased demand for transplant organs such as lungs and kidneys and reduced law reinforcement.
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Victims of Organ Trafficking
The victims of organ trafficking in the movie are presented as helpless because of either poverty or disease. Kidney disease is increasing in the current world (Bienstock, 2013). Transplant is the only option for most people suffering from the disease. Desperation caused by poverty, diseases, and the existence of opportunistic doctors has compounded the problem of organ trafficking.
Perpetrators of Organ Trafficking
Traffickers in transplant organs make huge profits, while the effects of the medical procedures leave donors and recipients with long term adverse health effects (Yea, 2013). Perpetrators of the illegal activity in the film by Bienstock are portrayed as selfish doctors who, on the surface, present themselves as saviors. At the same time, in the real sense, they do not care about the health effects of their activities. Most countries have implemented laws that illegalize selling and buying transplant organs and prohibit doctors from using organs that have been purchased. The World Health Organization also prohibits the practice and demands that the donation of transplant organs should be altruistic (Dobson, 2007). However, the increased demand that outweighs supply has forced many to turn the black market without considering the legal and ethical implications.
References
Bienstock, R.E. (Director), (2013). Tales from the Organ Trade [Documentary], Canada | United States [01:22:00].
Dobson, R. (2007). WHO reports growing commercial trade in transplant organs. BMJ , 335 (7628). doi: 10.1136/bmj.39398.419769.db
Hentrich, M. (2014). Health Matters: Human Organ Donations, Sales, and the Black Market. SSRN Electronic Journal . doi: 10.2139/ssrn.2541113
Scheper-Hughes, N. (2017). Kidney Pirates: How to End Human Trafficking in Organs for Illegal Transplants. Journal of Trafficking and Human Exploitation , 1 (2), 259–269. doi: 10.7590/245227717x15090911046629
Yea, S. (2013). Masculinity under the knife: Filipino men, trafficking and the black organ market in Manila, the Philippines. Gender, Place & Culture , 22 (1), 123–142. doi: 10.1080/0966369x.2013.832657
