Captive Daughters Receives $150,000 Grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

LOS ANGELES -- Captive Daughters, a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending the sex trafficking of girls, in association with Andrew Levine Productions, has been awarded a $150,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to produce a documentary film about the trafficking of Nepalese girls into the brothels of India.

The $150,000 grant will fund the production of a feature-length documentary filmed on location in Nepal and India. The film is being produced by Andrew Levine Productions of Park City, Utah. In his research, Andrew Levine has witnessed first-hand the horrors of the brothels and their flagrant disregard for human life. The haunting images of sex trafficking and sexual abuse impelled Levine to create this film.

"The generosity of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will help bring the increasing problem of child sex trafficking to the attention of the world," said Sandra Hunnicutt, executive director and founder of Captive Daughters of Los Angeles, California. "This film will be a critical tool in our effort to expose what is essentially modern-day slavery. We're very grateful that the Foundation has chosen to take a leadership role on this issue, and we hope that others will follow their initiative in helping to end this horrific situation."

"It is important to create awareness of, and bring attention to, the tragedy of sex trafficking that is harming upwards of two million children worldwide per year. This is happening to young girls just like our own sisters and daughters. They are being robbed of their childhood and stripped of their innocence," said Levine. "Studies now show that the HIV/AIDS rate in Bombay among sex workers has reached close to 80 percent. The fact is, once these girls are trafficked they are sentenced to death."

The trafficking of children from Nepal to India has resulted in as many as 300,000 Nepalese children working in Indian brothels. An estimated 13 to 15 Nepalese children are kidnapped, tricked, or sold into prostitution daily. The documentary film is expected to be released this fall and will expose the entire trafficking process, from the acquisition of children in Nepalese villages to their final imprisonment in Indian brothels, as well as the growth of the child sex trade around the world.

Since its inception in 1996, Captive Daughters has focused on raising awareness about sex trafficking in America and abroad through local, national and international activities. Captive Daughters is giving a voice to these helpless victims by educating the public about sex trafficking, working with governments, institutions and organizations to combat the practice of sex trafficking and by raising the issue of sex trafficking higher on national and international human rights agendas. To learn more please visit the website.

Andrew Levine has traveled the world and remains haunted by the growing problems of child sex trafficking. Andrew has followed the route that traffickers take when smuggling girls from Nepal into India and other Asian countries. He has witnessed first hand the horrors of the brothels and their flagrant disregard for human life.