AUSTIN, Texas — A local nonprofit that helps adult sex-trafficking female survivors is bringing a new documentary to Austin to spread awareness about how people are trafficked.
The Magdalene House Austin will have a screening of “Surviving Sex Trafficking” at the Violet Crown Cinema on Wednesday, Apr. 6.
The documentary provides an insight into how sex trafficking survivors fight to heal and reconnect to the life they lost.
All of the proceeds from the film will go to help survivors and shelters.
“When we learned about human trafficking, we felt like that's the deepest pain. A human being can feel that terrible violation to someone's body and to not only go through, let's say, sexual assault or rape, but to be raped over and over and over again and be forced into it and be coerced into it," Sadhvi Siddhali Shree, director and producer of the film said.
"There's no way to escape because of either grooming – maybe you love the person – or you're forced into it through kidnapping. Just to know you're in that level of slavery, it's unimaginable. So that's why we wanted to make films to raise awareness about it, to help the victims, to help the survivors, to prevent it from happening," he said.
Shree is a North American Jain female monk who makes films to raise awareness of human trafficking. She became a monk after her tour in Iraq with the U.S. Army.
In “Surviving Sex Trafficking,” Shree spoke with sex-trafficked women in shelters around the world. She said she wants high school teenagers to watch.
“The teenagers are the ones that are getting groomed. They're the ones that are getting access through the social media apps, through online gaming. The traffickers are targeting children, so unless the conversations start with the children, then they're not going to be aware,” Shree said.
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The documentary will be shown at the Violet Crown Cinema on April 6. It will be followed by an informative discussion.
Ticket proceeds go to Magdalene House Austin.
Magdalene House Austin is a two-year residential treatment program. It offers free long-term housing, access to healthcare services, counseling and job training for women.
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