Netflix and the brutal reality of sex trafficking

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Singer Duffy slams Netflix for film 365 Days glamorizing 'brutal reality of sex trafficking'

The singer, who recently revealed she was raped and held captive, criticized Netflix head Reed Hastings for allowing the streamer to host the controversial Polish film.

As popular as 365 Days has been since it debuted on Netflix, the film has also garnered a slew of detractors appalled at its depiction of sex trafficking.

One of the biggest voices speaking out against the controversial Polish movie is musician Duffy, who in an open letter to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings slammed the streamer for the "careless, insensitive, and dangerous" decision to distribute the film.

The film, 365 Days focuses on a young woman imprisoned by a Sicilian mafia boss who gives her one year to fall in love with him. It was a hit when it premiered in Poland, where it grossed $9 million at the local box office.

When it debuted globally on Netflix last month, the feature was among the top three most viewed items on the platform in numerous territories, including the United States, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

"Today, I really don’t know what to think, say, or do, other than to reach out and explain to you in this letter how irresponsible it was of Netflix to broadcast the film ‘365 Days,'" the "Mercy" singer wrote in the letter obtained by Deadline.

"I don’t want to be in this position to have to write to you, but the virtue of my suffering obliges me to do so, because of a violent experience that I endured of the kind that you have chosen to present as ‘adult erotica.'"

She went on to say that 365 Days "glamorizes the brutal reality of sex trafficking, kidnapping and rape. This should not be anyone’s idea of entertainment, nor should it be described as such, or be commercialized in this manner."

She cited statistics that 25 million people are currently trafficked around the world, and 80 percent of them are women and girls. Because these victims and their trauma are "unseen," the singer said, "I am compelled to speak on their behalf, and to ask you to right this wrong."

Besides addressing Netflix, Duffy also said she was writing to viewers who enjoyed the movie to "reflect on the reality of kidnapping and trafficking, of force and sexual exploitation, and of an experience that is the polar opposite of the glossy fantasy depicted in ‘365 Days."

"If Netflix take nothing from this open letter but these final words, I will be content," she wrote. "You have not realized how ‘365 Days’ has brought great hurt to those who have endured the pains and horrors that this film glamorizes, for entertainment and for dollars.

What I and others who know these injustices need is the exact opposite – a narrative of truth, hope, and to be given a voice. When we know better, let us do better, Duffy."

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