Nefarious: Merchant of Souls

File:Prostata Prostitute.jpg (pictured) with the sex industry in Eastern Europe, presenting the former as open and public and the latter as secretive and brutal.]]

Nefarious: Merchant of Souls documents modern human trafficking,{{Cite journal|journal=Southern Courier|title=Raising awareness of Sydney sex trafficking|date=July 25, 2011|author=Leesa Smith|url=http://southern-courier.whereilive.com.au/news/story/sex-worker-slaves-in-sydney/|access-date=January 9, 2013}} specifically sexual slavery.{{Cite journal|journal=The News of Cumberland County|title=Pastoral Views – See human trafficking documentary Sept. 25|author=Jamie Bagley|date=September 17, 2011|url=http://www.nj.com/cumberland/towns/index.ssf/2011/09/pastoral_views_-_see_human_trafficking_documentary_sept_25.html|access-date=January 9, 2013}} While there are men and boys who are trafficked around the world, the United States Department of State (DoS) estimates that about 80% of human trafficking victims are female, and the film focuses on them.{{Cite web|page=23|title=Trafficking in Persons Report|publisher=United States Department of State|date=June 2004|url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/documents/organization/34158.pdf|access-date=October 23, 2013}} Information is presented from a Christian worldview—despite the subject matter, there is no profanity or nudity in the film, although there are scenes showing alcohol consumption and women wearing skimpy clothing.

Nefarious explores how sex trafficking differs from country to country, and suggests that all the victims are both psychologically and emotionally enslaved. One of the initial assertions in the film is that slavery has not been abolished but is increasing, and that half of this slavery is sexual in nature. Nefarious identifies political corruption and difficult socioeconomic situations as elements that prevent sex slaves from escaping exploitation, and suggests that most victims do not survive for more than seven years after initially being trafficked.{{Cite news|work=World|title=Review: Nefarious|author=Tiffany Owens|date=April 28, 2012|url=http://www.worldmag.com/2012/04/review_nefarious|access-date=October 24, 2013}} While the violent acquisition of sex slaves depicted in the first sequence of the film does occur in reality, Jimmy Stewart of Charisma wrote that most girls who are sexually trafficked in Europe are recruited through a fraudulent offer of employment and an improved lifestyle overseas, neither of which ultimately materializes in the new country.{{Cite journal|journal=Charisma|title='Nefarious: Merchant of Souls' Exposes Sex Trafficking Industry|author=Jimmy Stewart|date=January 2, 2012|url=http://www.charismanews.com/culture/32583-nefarious-merchant-of-souls-exposes-sex-trafficking-industry|access-date=January 28, 2013}}

Nefarious asserts that there is a link between the international sex industry and legal prostitution in the Western world, and that those who create the demand for forced prostitution around the world are of a wide variety of ages and are often considered respectable.{{Cite news|work=Star News Daily |title='Nefarious: Merchant of Souls' Exposes Sex Trafficking Industry |author=Erica Yunghans |date=July 18, 2013 |url=http://www.starnewsdaily.com/viewby/contributor/erica-yunghans/story/-Nefarious-Merchant-of-Souls-Exposes-Sex-Trafficking-Industry--2013-07-18 |access-date=October 24, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140618212553/http://www.starnewsdaily.com/viewby/contributor/erica-yunghans/story/-Nefarious-Merchant-of-Souls-Exposes-Sex-Trafficking-Industry--2013-07-18 |archive-date=June 18, 2014 }} The film contrasts the secretiveness and brutality of the sex industry in Eastern Europe with the openness of public prostitution in the Netherlands. Nefarious suggests that sex trafficking in Southeast Asia is fuelled largely by the complicity of the victims' parents, with many in Cambodia grooming and then knowingly selling their daughters into prostitution to pay for luxury goods. The film asserts that 10% of the population of Moldova has been sexually trafficked. Nefarious contrasts Las Vegas prostitutes with victims of sex trafficking in Europe, depicting the former as drawn into the sex industry by dreams of a glamorous lifestyle, and the latter as made vulnerable by child abandonment and orphanages.

The film presents human trafficking statistics and assertions from a variety of sources, prominently departments of the United States government and the United Nations. These include that human trafficking is growing faster than any other criminal industry,{{Cite web|title=Fact Sheet |publisher=United States Department of Health and Human Services |date=August 15, 2006 |url=https://www.hhs.gov/news/factsheet/humantrafficking.html |access-date=October 23, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106023437/http://www.hhs.gov/news/factsheet/humantrafficking.html |archive-date=November 6, 2013 }} that the average age of those forced into prostitution in the U.S. is 13,{{Cite web|title=San Diego Man Sentenced for Sex Trafficking of Children: Trafficking Cases Up Significantly|page=2|publisher=United States Attorney for the Southern District of California|date=March 4, 2013|url=https://www.justice.gov/usao/cas/press/2013/cas13-0304-GarciaSent.pdf|access-date=October 23, 2013}} that the commercial sexual exploitation of children victimizes almost two million children globally,{{Cite web|title=Poverty denies children safety, dignity and protection|publisher=UNICEF|url=http://www.unicef.org/sowc05/english/povertyissue3.html|access-date=October 23, 2013|archive-date=September 27, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140927194229/http://www.unicef.org/sowc05/english/povertyissue3.html|url-status=dead}} that 80% of trafficked women and 50% of trafficked children are sexually exploited,{{Cite web|page=31 |title=Inter-Agency Training for Focal Points on Protection from Sexual Exploitation and Abuse by UN Personnel and Partners |publisher=United Nations |url=https://www.un.org/en/pseataskforce/docs/focal_points_training_manual.doc |access-date=October 23, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100228162418/http://www.un.org/en/pseataskforce/docs/focal_points_training_manual.doc |archive-date=February 28, 2010 }} that 161 UN member states engage in human trafficking,{{Cite web|title=Trafficking in Persons: Global Patterns|date=April 2006|publisher=United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime|page=7|url=http://www.unodc.org/pdf/traffickinginpersons_report_2006ver2.pdf|access-date=October 23, 2013}} and that modern slavery has an annual revenue of {{US$|32000000000}}{{Cite web|title=Remarks to the High-level Meeting on the Appraisal of the Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons |publisher=United Nations |date=May 13, 2013 |url=https://www.un.org/en/ga/president/67/statements/statements/May/humantrafficking13052013.shtml |access-date=October 23, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131025152119/http://www.un.org/en/ga/president/67/statements/statements/May/humantrafficking13052013.shtml |archive-date=October 25, 2013 }}—according to the film, higher than the annual revenues of Major League Baseball, the National Basketball Association, the National Football League and the National Hockey League combined. The film indicates that "trafficking is an exploitation of vulnerability" and expresses the need to "take away the stigma that [prostitutes] choose to be there." Kevin Bales of Free the Slaves is quoted as saying that there are 27 million slaves in the world. The film ends with the assertion that only Jesus can free people from sexual slavery.

File:Nefarious - Production.jpg (left), also served as the narrator and interviewer.]]

Nefarious covers human trafficking in the United States, Western and Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia. Interviews are interspersed with re-enactments. The film opens with a re-enactment of a girl being kidnapped by organized criminals. She is confined with other girls in a dark room, lit by a flickering lightbulb. Men order the girls to remove their clothes, and then examine them and shout commands and threats at them, causing them to cry from fear. One girl is dragged into another room.{{Cite journal|journal=The Shorthorn|author=David Dunn|title='Nefarious: Merchant of Souls' reveals world of human trafficking|date=November 2, 2012|url=http://www.theshorthorn.com/news/campus/nefarious-merchant-of-souls-reveals-world-of-human-trafficking/article_9a6ee340-249d-11e2-ac47-0019bb30f31a.html|access-date=January 30, 2013}} A victim of ordeals such as these, speaking in voiceover, explains that, in this situation, girls are often taken into a separate room to have their sexual performance tested. Identifying these events as taking place near Belgrade, Serbia, the film then tracks the fictional girls through Croatia to Amsterdam's red-light district De Wallen, and to sex markets in Berlin and Las Vegas. The film states that this slavery goes unnoticed in cities where prostitution is legal. Slaves are depicted in confinement, at their places of work, and as they are sold. Many of the girls are orphans, and all are either kidnapped or tricked into forced prostitution. Traffickers in the film use hard drugs, brainwashing and sexual and physical abuse to keep the girls under control.

One of the scenes in Southeast Asia takes place near a karaoke club, and depicts groups of girls, apparently ranging in age from early to late teens, offering sexual services to customers. Benjamin Nolot interviews a police officer, who says that the bar's owner recently bought eight other similar clubs and controls around 2,000 girls. Another Southeast Asian scene shows Nolot and his crew chasing an American{{Cite video|title='Nefarious' Docu-Drama Unmasks Global Sex Trade|author=Julia Gabriel Williams|publisher=Christian Broadcasting Network|date=October 2, 2011|url=http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2011/September/Nefarious-Docu-Drama-Unmasks-Global-Sex-Trade/|access-date=February 18, 2013}} man out of a town where he was trying to purchase sex with a child.

File:Nefarious - Interview.jpg founder Don Brewster (left) was interviewed by Nolot (right) for Nefarious.]]

The interviewees in Nefarious include former traffickers, international humanitarian workers, social workers, psychologists, human rights experts, and former victims of human trafficking. Interviewees include Canadian journalist Victor Malarek, Jerusalem Institute of Justice founder Calev Myers, Christian therapist Dan Allender, clinical psychologist Melissa Farley, Amsterdam police official Piet Keesman, Baptist missionary Lauran Bethell, Agape International Missions founder Don Brewster, anti-trafficking activist Helen Sworn, former prostitute Annie Lobert, and Swedish Detective Superintendent Kajsa Wahlberg.{{Cite web|title=Interviewees|publisher=Exodus Cry|url=http://nefariousdocumentary.com/the-films/interviewees/|access-date=February 18, 2013|archive-date=January 16, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130116022614/http://nefariousdocumentary.com/the-films/interviewees/|url-status=dead}}

The film includes an interview with a man referring to himself as "Vlad", who formerly trafficked in humans and drugs in Europe for eleven years. Vlad explains that traffickers control their victims by drugging them, physically abusing them, or threatening to abuse them. He claims that traffickers consider themselves most successful when the exploited girls start responding immediately to shouted, one-word commands. Vlad describes beating girls who tried to run away and says that he felt little remorse after such incidents; the large sums of money involved made him indifferent to the girls' fate. Vlad surmises that the reason global sex trafficking has expanded is that girls can be sold for sex repeatedly, while drugs can only be sold once. When asked how sex trafficking can function on an international scale, Vlad states that the two major contributory factors are organized crime and political corruption.

File:Anniegirltank.jpg, a former prostitute, says during her interview in Nefarious that, since prostitutes are required to constantly appear to enjoy something they do not, prostitution is "the greatest acting job."]]

Another interview features an Amsterdam pimp, "Slim", who owns a business allowing passers-by to view scantily clad girls in a display window; they can have sex with them on a mattress in a back room. He initially says that the display window women are not in any danger while with a client in the back room, but later clarifies that the girls should "keep a hand close to the panic button" located on the wall. When asked by Nolot if these activities are financed by organized crime, Slim hesitates, then says no.

A female human trafficking victim is interviewed with her face hidden. She describes how she and other human trafficking victims in Eastern Europe were held in buildings with security cameras, where they were forced to walk naked down a runway before a group of men who watched under the guise of attending a fashion show. She then describes being auctioned off to the audience members, who she says examined her off the runway as one might examine cattle.

A 55-year-old woman from England tells the story of how she was first prostituted in Boscombe, near Bournemouth in Dorset, after being raped as a child in the council houses where she grew up. She describes running away, being raped again at the age of 13 and then being locked in a wardrobe in Manchester, and says that she found this situation normal at the time as it was the only life she knew. She eventually became addicted to heroin. She then describes a vision of Jesus that she says gave her the strength to escape sexual trafficking at the age of 40 and heroin six years later.{{Cite journal|title=Vision of Jesus helped transform me, says former Boscombe prostitute|author=Darren Slade|journal=Bournemouth Daily Echo|date=July 7, 2012|url=http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/features/faithmatters/9803680.Vision_of_Jesus_helped_transform_me__says_former_Boscombe_prostitute/|access-date=April 20, 2013}} Other victims of trafficking speak about having been the objects of physical abuse and attempted murder. Nevada prostitutes describe having gone into prostitution in Las Vegas after watching the film Pretty Woman. Several former prostitutes talk about their conversion to Christianity, escape from sexual oppression, and subsequent education or marriage. Some of them cry while telling their stories. Lobert calls prostitution "the greatest acting job", explaining that prostitutes have to constantly feign enjoyment while actually feeling none. Before Nefarious was completed, one of the former prostitutes interviewed for the film returned to prostitution, a fact acknowledged in the film.

In her interview, Swedish Detective Superintendent Kajsa Wahlberg describes purchasing sex from a prostitute as paying to masturbate into someone.{{Cite journal|title=Nefarious: Merchant of Souls|author=Jamie Rake|journal=The Phantom Tollbooth|date=October 28, 2011|url=http://tollbooth.org/index.php/home/movie-reviews/289-nefarious-merchant-of-souls|access-date=January 29, 2013|archive-date=September 6, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120906192135/http://tollbooth.org/index.php/home/movie-reviews/289-nefarious-merchant-of-souls|url-status=dead}} The leader of an organization working to rescue girls from prostitution in Cambodia says that it is not the poorest parents who sell their children into sexual slavery but rather the parents who are looking to buy luxury goods. He therefore argues that sex trafficking is a spiritual and moral issue that cannot be solved by education or money. In another interview, a man purchasing sex in Thailand says that he believes the girls are happy to be working as prostitutes. Another interview features an American man who had been a sex tourist in Asia.

Nefarious was written, directed, produced, and narrated by Benjamin Nolot, founder and president of Exodus Cry.{{Cite web|title=About Benjamin Nolot |publisher=Benjamin Nolot |url=http://www.benjaminnolot.com/about/ |access-date=October 12, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130917082544/http://www.benjaminnolot.com/about/ |archive-date=September 17, 2013 }} Exodus Cry, which distributed the film, is headquartered in Grandview, Missouri and is an organization that opposes human trafficking by raising awareness, by reintegrating victims back into society, and by prayer. According to their website, they also oppose the "entire global sex industry, including prostitution, pornography, and stripping".{{cite web |url=https://exoduscry.com/theproblem/ |title=The Problem |website= Exodus Cry |access-date=September 7, 2021}}

Nolot founded Exodus Cry in 2007 after a woman he did not know gave him {{US$|10000}}, saying that God told her to do so in order that Nolot might found an anti-human-trafficking organization. This was established at a prayer meeting later that year, where attendees prayed for human trafficking victims. The organization claims that this prayer meeting occurred on the day before the announcement of the 2007 international child pornography investigation, which involved approximately 2,400 human-trafficking-related arrests in 77 countries{{Cite journal|journal=US Fed News Service|title=Exodus Cry Coming to Ferris to Educate on Human Trafficking|date=September 8, 2012|location=Washington, D.C.}} (although articles written at the time only mention the existence of 2,400 suspects as opposed to arrests, and indicate that the crime they were being accused of was possession and distribution of child pornography rather than human trafficking).{{Cite journal|journal=CBC News|date=February 7, 2007|title=RCMP to probe Canadian IPs in global child-porn network|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/rcmp-to-probe-canadian-ips-in-global-child-porn-network-1.678997|access-date=September 8, 2021}}

File:Nefarious - Travel.jpg

Filming of Nefarious was started in 2007, marking Nolot's film debut. The initial plan was to create a short film, but the project was expanded when Exodus Cry realized the scope of the issue they were documenting. Nolot, a leader in Mike Bickle's International House of Prayer, travelled to 19 countries to collect material for the film. These filming locations included countries in the Middle East, Europe, North America, and Asia. Nolot attested to having found it difficult to produce the film due to the subject matter; he stated that "there is not a day that goes by that I am not mindful of the horrific tragedies we uncovered." He further said that he did not make the film for money or for fame but did so to rouse people to action against human trafficking, an issue that he feels to be of great importance. Nolot said that the purpose of the film is "to draw people's attention to the issue, but also to inspire them in terms of what they can be doing … to take a stand against this injustice." Steve Willis and Matthew Dickey were the film's cinematographers. Willis, founder of Underpin Photography, also served as photographer while Dickey filled the roles of associate producer and Film editor, also directing the re-enactment scenes.{{Cite web|title=The Filmmakers|publisher=Exodus Cry|url=http://nefariousdocumentary.com/the-films/filmmakers/|access-date=April 30, 2013|archive-date=May 25, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130525145724/http://nefariousdocumentary.com/the-films/filmmakers/|url-status=dead}} Actors in these re-enactment scenes included Bill Oberst Jr., Christian Simpson (as Christian J. Simpson), Allison Weissman, Sarah Agor, and Jess Allen.{{Cite web|title=Nefarious: Merchant Of Souls (2011)|publisher=Rotten Tomatoes|url=http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/nefarious_merchant_of_souls/|access-date=January 29, 2013}} John Samuel Hanson composed the film score for Nefarious after having worked on such other projects as 16 Blocks, Constantine, The Book of Eli, and Lost. As of January 2012, Nolot was producing two sequels to Nefarious.

File:Laila Mickelwait speaking.jpg, which makes it illegal to buy, but not to sell, sex.]]

The film was officially released on July 27, 2011, with individual grassroots screenings also taking place. Nolot appeared at a screening in Appleton, Wisconsin, and afterwards led a question and answer session with a local police officer. During this time, Nolot promoted the Red Light Campaign, wherein drivers waiting at red lights pray for sex trafficking to end. Texas State representative Todd Ames Hunter attended a screening at the Summit Church in Corpus Christi, saying that human trafficking "is a critical issue to the state of Texas that needs education and attention."{{Cite journal|journal=Corpus Christi Caller-Times|title=Modern sex trade depicted in film|author=Lakendra Lewis|date=March 22, 2012}} The Justice Alliance, a Christian nonprofit organization that raises awareness about human trafficking, hosted a screening in the auditorium of El Dorado Middle School in Kansas.{{Cite journal|title=Justice Alliance to host screening of 'Nefarious'|journal=The El Dorado Times|author=Julie Clements|date=April 21, 2012|url=http://www.eldoradotimes.com/article/20120421/NEWS/304219960|access-date=January 29, 2013}} Florida Abolitionist, a non-governmental organization that also opposes human trafficking, sponsored a screening at the Full Sail University in Orlando, Florida. Most of the attendees were Christians. The Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) hosted two screenings of the film in 2012,{{Cite journal|journal=Christian Today|title=Christian Lobby: ACT government feeding demand for trafficked women|date=February 24, 2012|url=http://au.christiantoday.com/article/christian-lobby-act-government-feeding-demand-for-trafficked-women/12879.htm|access-date=January 9, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505090226/http://au.christiantoday.com/article/christian-lobby-act-government-feeding-demand-for-trafficked-women/12879.htm|archive-date=May 5, 2012|url-status=dead}} one of which took place before the Parliament of Tasmania. The Government of Tasmania was considering reforms to the Tasmanian sex industry at the time and the ACL was disappointed because the only politicians who showed up to the screening were four members of the Liberal Party.{{Cite journal|journal=The Examiner|title=Lobby unhappy over film turnout|author=Rosemary Bolger|date=March 8, 2012}} The ACL planned screenings in the rest of the states of Australia as well, hoping to convince legislators that the criminalization of the purchase of sex is the only effective way of combatting sexual slavery.{{Cite journal|journal=The Mercury|title=Sex-slave doco screening for MPs amid brothel flap|author=Matt Smith|date=February 28, 2012}} Another screening was held at United Nations headquarters in New York City in March 2012 during that year's session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.{{Cite news|work=News Weekly|title=Lifting the veil on the global sex industry|author=Babette Francis|date=March 31, 2012|url=http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=5132|access-date=October 24, 2013|archive-date=March 10, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140310040809/http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=5132|url-status=dead}}

Nefarious was released on home video on May 1, 2012. On June 26, the film made its British premiere, following which an interactive panel was held in which the audience was encouraged to fight human trafficking by donating funds, raising awareness, and praying.{{Cite journal|journal=Godculture Magazine |title=Nefarious: Merchant of Souls |author=Dan Preston |date=June 28, 2012 |url=http://www.godculture.co.uk/review-nefarious-merchant-souls/ |access-date=January 30, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120912054702/http://www.godculture.co.uk/review-nefarious-merchant-souls/ |archive-date=September 12, 2012 }} In September, the film was screened at The Rome International Film Festival in Rome, Georgia,{{Cite journal|title=A Day at RIFF|journal=Six Mile Post|author=Joshua Fisher|date=October 2, 2012|url=http://sixmilepostonline.com/?p=954|access-date=February 3, 2013}} the Midwest Christian-Inspirational Indie Film Festival in Chicago, Illinois,{{Cite web|publisher=Midwest Christian-Inspirational Indie Film Festival|title=Itinerary|url=http://www.mciifilmfestival.com/?q=about|access-date=February 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130209073054/http://www.mciifilmfestival.com/?q=about|archive-date=February 9, 2013|url-status=dead}} and the Atlanta International Documentary Film Festival in Atlanta, Georgia.{{Cite web|title=DocuFest Atlanta: September 20 – 23, 2012|publisher=Atlanta International Documentary Film Festival|url=http://www.docufest.com/schedule.html|access-date=February 5, 2013|archive-date=October 31, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121031111824/http://www.docufest.com/schedule.html|url-status=dead}} Nefarious was screened at Oaxaca FilmFest two months later.{{Cite web|title=Day 5: Mon 12 Nov|publisher=Oaxaca FilmFest|url=http://www.oaxacafilmfest.com/2012/schedule/d5.php|access-date=February 6, 2013|archive-date=February 1, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201142154/http://www.oaxacafilmfest.com/2012/schedule/d5.php|url-status=dead}} The Rose Marine Theater in Fort Worth, Texas hosted a screening in celebration of Human Rights Day in December.{{Cite journal|journal=US Fed News Service|title=Observe Human Rights Day on Dec. 8 with 4 Films that Prompt Reflection|date=November 30, 2012|location=Washington, D.C.}} Other screenings have taken place in South Korea,{{Cite journal|journal=The Korea Herald|title=Anti-slavery film screening in Daegu|date=November 24, 2011}} Hong Kong,{{Cite web|url=http://www.scmp.com/article/1000747/film-lifts-lid-sex-slave-shame|work=South China Morning Post|title=Film lifts lid on sex-slave shame|author=Jennifer Cheng|date=August 15, 2012|access-date=October 8, 2013}} Bermuda,{{Cite news|work=The Royal Gazette|title=Award-winning film exposes hidden truths of sex slave trade|author=Nadia Arandjelovic|date=November 1, 2012|url=http://www.royalgazette.com/article/20121101/ISLAND02/711019914|access-date=October 24, 2013}} and Canada.{{Cite journal|journal=The Hamilton Spectator|title=Human trafficking film at Annex|date=December 8, 2012}} The Hong Kong premiere was attended by such people as Clement Cheng, Lori Chow, Cathy Leung, Pamela Peck, Nancy Sit, and Grace Wong, and the subsequent three weeks of screenings were all sold out.{{Cite web|title=Hong Kong Nefarious Premiere a Success |publisher=AmiraCulture |url=http://amiraculture.com/english/entry/hong-kong-nefarious-premiere-a-success/ |access-date=October 24, 2013 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303232206/http://amiraculture.com/english/entry/hong-kong-nefarious-premiere-a-success/ |archive-date=March 3, 2016 }} In May 2013, Katarina MacLeod, a former sex slave, spoke at a screening in Peterborough, Ontario hosted by Canadian Baptist Women of Ontario and Quebec.{{Cite news|work=CJWV-FM |title=Presentation of a Documentary – "Nefarious: Merchant of Souls" |date=May 31, 2013 |url=http://www.magic967.net/index.php?option=com_jevents&task=icalrepeat.detail&evid=1700&Itemid=121&year=2013&month=05&day=31&title=presentation-of-a-documentary-qnefarious-merchant-of-soulsq&uid=ac280a5f4a3bf13804110c6f6fd50d94&catids=49 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130727193927/http://www.magic967.net/index.php?option=com_jevents&task=icalrepeat.detail&evid=1700&Itemid=121&year=2013&month=05&day=31&title=presentation-of-a-documentary-qnefarious-merchant-of-soulsq&uid=ac280a5f4a3bf13804110c6f6fd50d94&catids=49 |url-status=dead |archive-date=July 27, 2013 |access-date=July 27, 2013 }} Laila Mickelwait, Exodus Cry's Director of Awareness and Prevention, screened the film in several countries in an attempt to persuade governments to make laws similar to Sweden's Sex Purchase Act, which criminalizes the purchasing rather than the selling of sex. Because Sweden now has the lowest human trafficking rate in the European Union, Mickelwait argued that such laws decrease the demand for commercial sex and effectively combat related organized crime (although other sources have since claimed that "sex workers in Sweden now experience increased risk of violence",{{cite journal |last=Vogel |first=Lauren |date=February 2015 |title=Prostitution laws failing sex workers: CPHA |journal=Canadian Medical Association Journal |url=https://www.cmaj.ca/content/187/2/E63 |volume=187 |issue=2 |pages=E63–E64|doi=10.1503/cmaj.109-4968 |pmid=25534605 |pmc=4312165 }}

and state that "the law has failed in its abolitionist ambition to decrease levels of prostitution, since there [is] no reliable data demonstrating any overall decline in people selling sex."){{cite journal |last1=Levy |first1=Jay |last2=Jakobsson |first2=Pye |date=March 2014 |title=Sweden's abolitionist discourse and law: Effects on the dynamics of Swedish sex work and on the lives of Sweden's sex workers |journal=British Society of Criminology |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1748895814528926 |volume=14 |issue=5 |pages=593–607 |doi=10.1177/1748895814528926|s2cid=145207921 |url-access=subscription }} At some screenings, Exodus Cry solicited funds for the halfway houses it runs in Moldova called LightHouses, where victims of sex trafficking are given help.

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| rev1Score = {{Rating|4|4}}{{Cite web|author=Ted Baehr|title=Nefarious: Merchant of Souls|date=August 6, 2012|publisher=Movieguide|url=http://www.movieguide.org/reviews/nefarious-merchant-of-souls.html|access-date=January 28, 2013}}

}}

Both Jim Uttley of Indian Life Newspaper{{Cite journal|journal=Indian Life Newspaper|author=Jim Uttley|title=The Battleground of the Century: A Call to Action|page=4|date=March–April 2012|volume=32|issue=5}} and Pastor Jamie Bagley of The News of Cumberland County called Nefarious "hard-hitting". Uttley further asserted that Nefarious "is not an easy film to watch because it deals with a subject that most of us would rather ignore", and he went on to highly recommend the film. Jimmy Stewart of Charisma reported that the film gives a human face to trafficking statistics and instils a desire in the viewer to put an end to such criminal activity. Ted Baehr of Movieguide, a Christian magazine,{{Cite web|title=About Movieguide|publisher=Movieguide|url=http://www.movieguide.org/about-movieguide|access-date=October 12, 2013}} called the film "a powerful, compelling and transformational documentary about human trafficking and sex slavery" and wrote that it was amazing that the film covered an inherently sexual topic both honestly and without nudity. Baehr praised the cinematography, editing, and filmmaking, but criticized some portions of the film as being repetitive and uncompelling. The Movieguide review ends by comparing the film's opposition to modern slavery to the death of Saint Telemachus, which put an end to gladiatorial games in ancient Rome. Erica Yunghans of Star News Daily called the film "controversial".

In News Weekly, Babette Francis called Nefarious a "ground-breaking documentary". Tiffany Owens of World, a Christian magazine, praised the film, describing its storytelling as compelling and vivid. Jamie Rake of The Phantom Tollbooth called the film "an engrossing, sometimes appropriately gross, exposé [that] sounds a clarion cry against … modern slavery". Rake praises the re-enactments for being appropriately ominous, and for demonstrating the dehumanization and abuse that characterize sexual trafficking. He suggests that the film is a modern version of This Is the Life, a Christian television series that dealt with social issues, and that, if Nolot applied for a Motion Picture Association of America film rating, it would be given a PG-13 rating. Dan Preston of Godculture Magazine called the film "a hands-on, grimy, honest, explorative piece of journalism". Preston praised Nolot's writing and directing. Jennifer Cheng of the South China Morning Post called the film "unnerving" and wrote that it "offers a glimpse into how organized crime, abuse, greed, lust and humiliation intertwine to make human trafficking possible."

{{awards table}}

|-

| rowspan="4"|2011 || rowspan="3"|Nefarious: Merchant of Souls || Transforming Stories International Christian Film Festival Documentary Film Award || {{nom}}{{Cite web|title=Transforming Stories International Christian Film Festival (TSICFF)|date=September 15, 2011|publisher=Vision for Africa International|url=http://www.visionforafrica-intl.org/en/news/2011/20110930.html|access-date=February 2, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416032411/http://www.visionforafrica-intl.org/en/news/2011/20110930.html|archive-date=April 16, 2013}}

|-

|| Aurora Awards Documentary Issue Platinum Best of Show || {{won}}{{Cite web|title=2011 Platinum Best of Show Winners|publisher=The Aurora Awards|url=http://www.auroraawards.com/2011PlatinumWinners|access-date=February 2, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130302155359/http://www.auroraawards.com/2011PlatinumWinners|archive-date=March 2, 2013}}

|-

|| Accolade Competition Feature Documentary Award of Merit || {{won}}{{Cite web|title=Accolade Competition Deadline: November 18, 2011|publisher=The Accolade Competition|url=http://www.accoladecompetition.org/PDF_Winners/WinnersAccoladeDeadline111811.pdf|access-date=February 2, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120619165010/http://www.accoladecompetition.org/PDF_Winners/WinnersAccoladeDeadline111811.pdf|archive-date=June 19, 2012}}

|-

||Benjamin Nolot || California Film Awards Best First-Time Documentary || {{won}}{{Cite web|title=2011 Grand Winners|publisher=California Film Awards|url=http://www.calfilmawards.com/Awards/2011_winners/2011_grand_winners.aspx|access-date=February 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206234335/http://www.calfilmawards.com/Awards/2011_winners/2011_grand_winners.aspx|archive-date=February 6, 2012}}

|-

| rowspan="10"|2012 || rowspan="4"| Nefarious: Merchant of Souls || Canada International Film Festival Documentary Competition Award of Excellence || {{won}}{{Cite web|title=2012 Canada International Film Festival Award Winners|publisher=Canada International Film Festival|url=https://canadafilmfestival.com/past-winners-main/2012-winners|access-date=October 5, 2013|archive-date=March 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140325113420/https://www.canadafilmfestival.com/past-winners-main/2012-winners|url-status=dead}}

|-

|| Honolulu Film Award for Best Screenplay || {{won}}{{Cite web|title=2012 Competition Winners|publisher=Honolulu Film Awards|url=http://honolulufilmawards.com/Default.aspx?TabId=482&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1|access-date=February 3, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120628174348/http://honolulufilmawards.com/Default.aspx?TabId=482&AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1|archive-date=June 28, 2012}}

|-

|| Telly Awards Non-Broadcast Productions for Social Issues Silver Award || {{won}}{{Cite web|title=2012 Film/Video Silver Winners|publisher=Telly Awards|url=http://www.tellyawards.com/winners/list/?l=N&event=13&category=1&award=S|access-date=February 3, 2013}}

|-

|| Kingdomwood Christian Film Festival Best Documentary Feature || {{won}}{{Cite web|title=2012 Kingdomwood Crowned|publisher=Kingdomwood Christian Film Festival|url=http://www.kingdomwood.com|access-date=February 3, 2013}}

|-

|| Benjamin Nolot || Kingdomwood Christian Film Festival Best Director || {{won}}

|-

|| John Samuel Hanson || Kingdomwood Christian Film Festival Best Original Music || {{won}}

|-

|| Matthew Dickey, Matt Egan, Steve Willis, and Michael Lienau || Kingdomwood Christian Film Festival Best Cinematography || {{won}}

|-

| rowspan="3"|Nefarious: Merchant of Souls || Moondance International Film Festival Feature Film Documentary Seahorse† Award || {{won}}{{Cite web|title=Annual Report|publisher=Exodus Cry|url=http://exoduscry.com/downloads/annual_report_2012.pdf|access-date=October 5, 2013}}

|-

|| Urban Mediamakers Film Festival Best Documentary Feature Award || {{won}}{{Cite web|title=Urban Mediamakers Film Festival Awards 2012|publisher=Urban Mediamakers Film Festival|url=http://www.umff.com/images/umff2012-awards.pdf|access-date=February 5, 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131127151524/http://www.umff.com/images/umff2012-awards.pdf|archive-date=November 27, 2013}}

|-

|| Indie Fest Feature Documentary Award of Excellence || {{won}}{{Cite web|title=Indie Winners: April 2012 |publisher=Indie Fest |url=http://www.theindiefest.com/Winners-04-2012.html |access-date=February 6, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130904095905/http://www.theindiefest.com/Winners-04-2012.html |archive-date=September 4, 2013 }}

{{end}}

† Seahorse Awards are given to male writers, composers, and filmmakers.{{Cite web|title=Festival Award Categories|publisher=Moondance International Film Festival|url=http://www.moondancefilmfestival.com/02_festival.awards.html|access-date=February 5, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120915025154/http://moondancefilmfestival.com/02_festival.awards.html|archive-date=September 15, 2012}}

• Human trafficking in Sweden
• Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons
• Transnational efforts to prevent human trafficking
• United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking
• Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000

{{clear}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{Cite book|title=Escaping the Devil's Bedroom: Sex Trafficking, Global Prostitution and the Gospel's Transforming Power|author=Dawn Herzog Jewell|publisher=Kregel Publications|year=2008|isbn=978-0825461651}}
• {{Cite book|title=Sex Trafficking|author=Siddharth Kara|publisher=Columbia University Press|year=2010|isbn=978-0231139618}}

{{Commons category|Nefarious: Merchant of Souls}}

• {{official website}}
• {{IMDb title}}
• {{rotten-tomatoes}}

{{Portal bar|Human sexuality|Business and economics|Law|Christianity|Film|United States}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nefarious: Merchant of Souls}}

Category:2011 crime films

Category:2011 documentary films

Category:2011 films

Category:American crime films

Category:American documentary films

Category:Christian mass media

Category:Documentary films about child abuse

Category:Documentary films about organized crime

Category:Documentary films about prostitution

Category:Documentary films about slavery

Category:Documentary films about violence against women

Category:Documentary films about pedophilia

Category:Forced prostitution

Category:Films about child prostitution

Category:Works about sex trafficking

Category:2010s English-language films

Category:2010s American films

Category:English-language documentary films

Category:English-language crime films