The short documentary film “A Civil Remedy” from Suffolk University Law School Professor Kate Nace Day, tells the story of a sex-trafficking survivor while addressing the meaning of justice and the need to place new legal tools in the hands of victims.

The film will premiere at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 26, at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge.

The American woman at the center of the film was trafficked into prostitution in Boston at the age of 17, escaped to her family, and survived to finish school and become an anti-trafficking advocate.

Empowering victims

Against this backdrop, the film weaves the perspectives of commentators Gloria Steinem, a longtime leader in the American women's rights movement; Alicia Foley, founder of the Boston Initiative to Advance Human Rights; and Siddharth Kara, author of Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery, an economic analysis of sex trafficking.

“A civil remedy -- a state civil action for money damages -- will empower victims to reclaim their equal place in their community, see their violators held accountable and drain resources from the global sex industry,” said Day, who teaches the civil, constitutional and international rights of women. She co-teaches a seminar on Sex Trafficking in Film and Law with Foley, a Law School alumna.

Bringing stories to light

A discussion with photojournalists and documentary filmmakers who are developing sex-trafficking stories, moderated by Phillip W.D. Martin, senior investigative reporter at WGBH, will follow the film showing.

The panelists are:

• Stephen Alvarez, photographer for NPR series “Nashville: Up from Prostitution”
• Chelo Alvarez-Stehle, filmmaker who created the documentary “Sands of Silence”
• Gayle Ferraro, documentary filmmaker who created “Anonymously Yours”
• Kat Rohrer, director of “Fatal Promises”
• Sonya Shah, director of “Something Between Her Hands”
• Jane Wells, documentary filmmaker who created “10,000 Men”

The film is a production of Film and Law Productions, which was founded by Day and presents stories as vibrant retellings of law that render visible what law does.

“A Civil Remedy”
7-9 p.m. Thursday, April 26, 2012
Brattle Theatre
40 Brattle St.
Cambridge, MA 02138