Molly Venzke has personally helped Federal Way girls break the hold of sex trafficking.
“Even as recent as two days ago, I got a text from a friend of mine,” said Venzke, an Auburn resident who works at the Federal Way Christian Faith School. “A friend of hers was approached by a gentleman at work.”
The woman’s low-paying job and lack of a work visa, didn’t qualify her for the job this “gentleman” was saying she could get.
“He started talking to her, saying he has a great opportunity for her,” Venzke said. “If she just comes with him, meets and goes to this location, there will be work for her. It was completely bogus.”
Venzke said the woman wouldn’t have been seen again if she had gone.
It’s situations like this, seemingly harmless opportunities, that have contributed to the approximate 27 million people being trafficked around the world, according to a statistic from The A21 Campaign.
To create awareness and find a way to donate towards the cause, Venzke wrote the first of three books called “Caged” in 2011. Her second book, “Caged No More,” came out on Jan. 4. 
Nearly a year after “Caged” was published, she was contacted by movie producer Lisa Arnold, who had produced and directed “God’s Not Dead.”
Not only did she want to turn Venzke’s book into a movie, Arnold asked Venzke to write the screenplay.
Four years later, “Caged No More,” the movie, is set to release in 200 theaters nationwide on Jan. 22, with more to follow.
According to a news release, “Caged No More” highlights how complex it is to rescue those who have been trafficked. Character Aggie Prejean (played by Loretta Devine, a “Grey’s Anatomy” actress) is a Cajun grandmother who searches for granddaughters Skye (played by Cassidy Gifford, an actress in “God’s Not Dead”) and Elle, who were kidnapped by their father, (played by Keven Sorbo, an actor in “God’s Not Dead” and “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys”). Their father takes them to Greece to be sold into the sex trade but Aggie is determined to find them. With help from the girls’ uncle, a New Orleans philanthropist, and his son, formerly with the Special Forces, a “global hunt ensues.”
“They go on a hunt against the clock to be able to rescue the girls,” Venzke said, adding that the while the movie is rated PG 13 for the topic of sex trafficking, the film itself doesn’t depict any graphic or scary scenes. “You leave that movie feeling empowered. We can stop this and make a difference.”
Venzke said churches and high schools are showing the film, which was awarded “Best Feature” in October at the 2015 La Femme International Film Festival in Los Angeles, Calif.
All of the proceeds from the novel and movie will be donated to the nonprofit Trafficking Hope, an anti-trafficking organization Venzke used to work for.
Venzke was the copywriter for the organization’s website, which was launched in 2007.
“It was really, for me at the time, the only organization I knew of,” she said of the Louisiana-based nonprofit. “I remotely worked for them and did all kinds of stuff as a writer.”
It was then, as she started doing research on sex trafficking in the United States, that it opened her eyes to how prevalent human trafficking is.
“I would write stories for the girls when they would rescue somebody,” she said. “It broke my heart and I wanted to be more involved.”
According to The A21 Campaign, only 1-2 percent of sex trafficking victims are rescued.
Living and working in the South King County area, Venzke has also heard local stories.
One, in particular stands out:
“A young girl who was in high school right here in Federal Way met an 18-year-old boy; she was 14,” she said. “He came on the campus and was just hanging out in the parking lot. They didn’t know this guy wasn’t a student, and he was what you’d call a recruiter, a deliverer of the girls.”
Venzke said recruiters develop a relationship with girls and take them to a location where the pimps are and then leaves.
“That happened [to this girl] and serious, by the grace of God, four days later, she was found,” Venzke said, noting the details of what happened during those four days are unfathomable. “This is happening.”
Outside of novels and films, Venzke is helping pilot a project under Trafficking Hope called Students Against Trafficking, or StAT. The project allows students to be involved with their peers in a fun way, while addressing the issue of sex trafficking and how to prevent it.
“It’s really awesome because you get these high school kids and they take it through college,” she said, adding that if a man does not buy sex by the time he’s 25, the chances of him buying it after the age of 25 are extremely low.
“Caged No More” will be playing in Tukwila at the AMC Southcenter 16, located at 3600 Southcenter Mall as well as at a theater in Lynnwood. For more information, visit www.cagednomoremovie.com.
