In the past 30 years and with the rise of the Internet, the sex trade has expanded worldwide and become a true industry. But who is benefiting from this phenomenon, which has turned the bodies of women into a commodity to be exploited? The Sex Trade is a foray into a brutal world whose key players trivialize the impact of their actions by claiming that prostitution is simply a service like any other.

Part investigative report and part editorial, this documentary delves into an industry that often operates legally. High-end and street prostitution, escort agencies, massage parlours, strip clubs, the porn industry, sex tourism—the sex trade is sprawling, and has even spread beyond major urban areas.

An ensemble film, The Sex Trade journeys into a murky underground. Behind the glowing signs of clubs and bars and on various websites, men are paying for sex and buying the consent of the women. To meet customer demands and keep this lucrative business rolling, unscrupulous pimps and sex traffickers target women and girls, who are afraid to speak out.

With incisive comments from experts and enlightening interviews with people who have left or are still in the sex trade, the film takes a behind-the-scenes look at this industry to reveal a modern form of slavery. The Sex Trade is a journey into darkness from which no one can emerge unscathed.