Documentaries
Forced Prostitution / Sex Trafficking
Non-consensual exploitation, coercion, force, or fraud (or involving minors who cannot legally consent). These individuals are victims of a severe crime.
Operation Toussaint (2018)
Follows undercover operations and child rescue missions targeting international child sex trafficking rings.
Surviving Sex Trafficking (2022)
First-hand accounts from global survivors detailing how they were trapped in forced prostitution and their path to long-term healing.
Sold in America (2018)
A docuseries breaking down the multi-billion dollar illicit commercial sex economy and domestic human trafficking networks across the United States.
Trafficked in America (2018)
Trafficked in America investigates how teenagers from Central America were smuggled into the U.S. by traffickers who promised them jobs and a better life-only to force them to live and work in virtual slavery to pay off their debt.
IMDb | Available on PBS Frontline
Trafficked: Underworlds with Mariana Van Zeller (2020–2024)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8030894/
Prime Video – here
Description: Investigates global black-market economies, human smuggling routes, and organized sex trafficking syndicates.
Silent Cry: The Darker Side of Trafficking (2020)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13140978/
Prime Video – here
Description: Examines the harsh realities of child sexual exploitation and human trafficking through survivor testimonies.
Bound – An Unflinching Look Inside the Brutal World of Human Trafficking (2017)
IMDb Link: www.imdb.com/title/tt6788468/
Prime Video – here
Description: Takes an unvarnished look at international and domestic human trafficking networks.
Trafficker (2015)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5238582/
Prime Video – here
Description: Focuses on human trafficking supply lines and cross-border exploitation.
She Is … (2023)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5892642/
Prime Video – here
Description: Focuses on stories of women surviving human trafficking and rebuilding their lives.
Sex Slaves (2005)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0811064/
Prime Video – here
Description: Documents cross-border supply chains and international networks where women are abducted or deceived into forced prostitution.
Born into Brothels (2004)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0388789/]
Available on Plex, Tubi and Prime Video – here
Description: Oscar-winning documentary depicting the children of sex workers living in Kolkata’s red-light district through photography workshops.
3. Foster Care, Group Homes, & Vulnerable Youth Sex Trafficking
Focuses specifically on domestic minor sex trafficking and how predators target vulnerable, displaced, or runaway youth in group homes and foster care systems.
Sex Trafficking in America (2019)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10407998/
Prime Video – here
Description: PBS Frontline documentary following young women and teenagers in Phoenix, Arizona, highlighting how local pimps target girls in group homes and foster care.
Los Angeles: Capital of the Sex Trade in Minors (2019)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11481942/
Prime Video – here
Description: Investigates child sex trafficking in Los Angeles, showing how youth aging out of foster care are actively preyed upon by traffickers.
The Girl Next Door – The Story of a Human Trafficking Survivor (2013)
IMDb Link: no IMDb page
Prime Video – here
Description: Explores domestic minor sex trafficking through a survivor’s journey, detailing runaway vulnerability, grooming, and trauma.
4. Sexual Exploitation of Individuals with Special Needs & Non-Verbal Minors/Adults
Examines sexual assault, rape, and exploitation perpetrated against non-verbal individuals, autistic youth, and people with intellectual or physical disabilities—often by caregivers or trusted authority figures who exploit their inability to give consent or report abuse.
Tell Them You Love Me (2023)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29142525/
Available on Netflix and Apple TV
Description: Documents the trial surrounding a university professor convicted of sexually assaulting a non-verbal man with cerebral palsy who was legally incapable of consenting.
Abused and Betrayed (PBS NewsHour / NPR Investigation, 2018)
IMDb Link: no IMDb page
PBS Video Portal or read and listen to the complete investigative series directly on the NPR Abused and Betrayed Series Page.
Description: Investigative reporting exposing the epidemic of sexual violence against Americans with intellectual disabilities and why non-verbal individuals are disproportionately targeted.
5. Predators on Social Media, Online Grooming, & Tech Platforms
Examines how internet platforms, classified sites, social media apps, and chat rooms are weaponized by predators to groom, recruit, and sell minors.
It’s Happening Right Here (2022)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13943186/
Prime Video – here – (also YouTube rent)
Description: Exposes online child exploitation and local trafficking, detailing how predators use social media and gaming platforms to target kids in suburban communities.
I Am Jane Doe (2017)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6398054/
Available on: AppleTV, YouTube TV and Netflix
Description: Chronicles the legal battle of mothers whose middle-school daughters were recruited and sex-trafficked on Backpage.com.
Trafficked: A Parent’s Worst Nightmare (2021)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5616212/
Prime Video – here
Description: Details online grooming tactics used by predators on social media to lure minors directly out of their family homes.
The Pedophile Hunters (2014)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22641106/
Prime Video – here
Description: Covers vigilante groups tracking down online sexual predators in chatrooms and digital forums.
6. Familial Sexual Abuse & Exploitation (Expanded)
Focuses on child sexual abuse, exploitation, and incest occurring within immediate or extended family structures, highlighting intergenerational trauma and trusted caregiver betrayals.
My Dad the Paedophile (2019)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27033343/
Prime Video – here
Description: An intimate personal documentary exploring familial child sexual abuse, long-term psychological impact, and survivor confrontation.
Tell Me Who I Am (2019)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10915286/
Available on Netflix
Description: Follows twin brothers as one uncovers horrifying truths about severe familial sexual abuse and exploitation perpetuated by their own family inside their home.
Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0342172/
Prime Video – here – also Available on Amazon – DVD format – here
Description: Examines a family unraveling under allegations of child sexual abuse and intra-familial abuse.
Abducted in Plain Sight (2017)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3444312/
Available for free on Tubi or Pluto TV
Description: Details how a family friend and trusted neighbor groomed an entire family to sexually abuse and kidnap their young daughter multiple times.
7. Child Marriage & Forced Marriage (Including in the United States)
Examines the legal and cultural practice of child and forced marriage—where minors (predominantly young girls) are legally wed to adult men, frequently serving as legal cover for statutory rape and domestic captivity.
Knots: A Forced Marriage Story (2020)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10016640/?ref_=fn_i_1
Available for free on Tubi and Plex
Description: Exposes child and forced marriage occurring legally in the United States through the testimonies of American survivors.
I Was a Child Bride: The Untold Story (2019)
IMDb Link: no IMDb page
Available for free on YouTube
Description: Investigative journalist Elizabeth Vargas reveals the alarming reality of young girls forced or coerced into child marriage across various U.S. states.
Sonita (2015)
IMDb link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5278928/?ref_=fn_i_1
Available on Netflix, Mubi and Google Play in certain regions
Description: After her family attempts to sell her into marriage, a young Afghan refugee in Iran channels her frustrations and seizes her destiny through music.
8. Institutional & Systemic Sexual Abuse
Focuses on systemic sexual abuse, exploitation, and organizational cover-ups within structured institutions like sports organizations, universities, cults, and religious hierarchies.
Athlete A (2020)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11905462/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
Available on Netflix
Description: Uncovers systemic sexual abuse within USA Gymnastics by Larry Nassar and the corporate cover-ups that enabled it.
The Hunting Ground (2015)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4180556/
Available for free on Plex and Tubi
Description: Investigates sexual assault and systemic institutional cover-ups across American college campuses.
Sex, Lies and the College Cult (2022)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21912412/?ref_=fn_i_1
Available on Apple TV and Peacock
Description: Details psychological manipulation, abuse, and sexual exploitation within the Sarah Lawrence College cult.
Sex Slaves in the Catholic Church (2018)
IMDb Link: no IMDb page
Prime Video – here
Description: Exposes systemic sexual abuse and exploitation of nuns within the Catholic Church hierarchy.
Timothy Busfield Sex Abuse Case Nation (2026)
IMDb Link: no IMDb page
Prime Video – here
Description: Documents high-profile institutional sexual abuse allegations and court proceedings.
9. Sex Work Policy, Consent, & Legal Decriminalization
Explores the legal distinction between voluntary adult commercial sex, state regulation, and how anti-trafficking policy implementation impacts consensual adult workers.
The War on Sex Workers (2019)
IMDb Link: no IMDb page
Prime Video – here
Description: Examines the policy debate between consensual adult sex work, legal decriminalization efforts, and anti-trafficking law enforcement.
Sex and Violence (2013)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2931316/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
Prime Video – here
Description: Louis Theroux explores domestic violence, sexual assault crisis centers, and survivor support infrastructure.
10. State-Sanctioned Child Trafficking & Narrative Features
Covers child trafficking resulting from state government policies or narrative feature films depicting similar themes.
One Child Nation (2019)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10360486/
Prime Video – here
Description: Exposes the consequences of China’s former One-Child Policy, detailing forced abandonments and state-involved child trafficking via international adoption networks.
Capernaum (2018)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8267604/
Prime Video – here
Description: Scripted narrative feature film providing a realistic portrayal of street youth, child neglect, poverty, and child marriage in Lebanon.
11. Other
Seyran Ateş: Sex, Revolution and Islam (2021)
IMDb link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13318488/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
Apple TV: Available to rent or buy digitally.
Google Play: Available to rent or buy digitally.
Film Platform: Available for educational and academic licensing/streaming.
Ghost Fleet
IMDb link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8580240/?ref_=fn_t_1
Available on YouTube and Google Play
Description: Ghost Fleet follows a small group of activists who risk their lives on remote Indonesian islands to find justice and freedom for the enslaved fishermen who feed the world’s insatiable appetite for seafood.
Nefarious: Merchant of Souls (2011)
IMDb link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1759690/?ref_=fn_t_1
Prime Video – here
Description: Modern Slavery – A documentary exploring the sex-trade.
The Dark Side of Chocolate (2010)
IMDb Link: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1773722/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk
Available on YouTube and Culture Unplugged Watch Online Platform
Description: At cocoa plantations in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, children aged from 7 to 15 years old, with the promise of paid work, are forced into slave labour.