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.
IMDb | Prime
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.
IMDb | Prime
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.
IMDb | Prime
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)
Investigates global black-market economies, human smuggling routes, and organized sex trafficking syndicates.
IMDb | Prime
Silent Cry: The Darker Side of Trafficking (2020)
Examines the harsh realities of child sexual exploitation and human trafficking through survivor testimonies.
IMDb | Prime
Bound – An Unflinching Look Inside the Brutal World of Human Trafficking (2017)
Takes an unvarnished look at international and domestic human trafficking networks.
IMDb | Prime
Trafficker (2015)
Focuses on human trafficking supply lines and cross-border exploitation.
IMDb | Prime
She Is … (2023)
Focuses on stories of women surviving human trafficking and rebuilding their lives.
IMDb | Prime
Sex Slaves (2005)
Documents cross-border supply chains and international networks where women are abducted or deceived into forced prostitution.
IMDb | Prime
Born into Brothels (2004)
Oscar-winning documentary depicting the children of sex workers living in Kolkata’s red-light district through photography workshops.
IMDb | Available on Plex, Tubi and Prime
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)
PBS Frontline documentary following young women and teenagers in Phoenix, Arizona, highlighting how local pimps target girls in group homes and foster care.
IMDb | Prime
Los Angeles: Capital of the Sex Trade in Minors (2019)
Investigates child sex trafficking in Los Angeles, showing how youth aging out of foster care are actively preyed upon by traffickers.
IMDb | Prime
The Girl Next Door – The Story of a Human Trafficking Survivor (2013)
Explores domestic minor sex trafficking through a survivor’s journey, detailing runaway vulnerability, grooming, and trauma.
Prime
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)
Documents the trial surrounding a university professor convicted of sexually assaulting a non-verbal man with cerebral palsy who was legally incapable of consenting.
IMDb | Available on Netflix and Apple TV
Abused and Betrayed (PBS NewsHour / NPR Investigation, 2018)
Investigative reporting exposing the epidemic of sexual violence against Americans with intellectual disabilities and why non-verbal individuals are disproportionately targeted.
PBS Video Portal or read and listen to the complete investigative series directly on the NPR Abused and Betrayed Series Page.
Description:
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)
Exposes online child exploitation and local trafficking, detailing how predators use social media and gaming platforms to target kids in suburban communities.
IMDb | Prime – (also YouTube rent)
I Am Jane Doe (2017)
Chronicles the legal battle of mothers whose middle-school daughters were recruited and sex-trafficked on Backpage.com.
IMDb | Available on: AppleTV, YouTube TV and Netflix
Trafficked: A Parent’s Worst Nightmare (2021)
Details online grooming tactics used by predators on social media to lure minors directly out of their family homes.
IMDb | Prime
The Pedophile Hunters (2014)
Covers vigilante groups tracking down online sexual predators in chatrooms and digital forums.
IMDb | Prime
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)
An intimate personal documentary exploring familial child sexual abuse, long-term psychological impact, and survivor confrontation.
IMDb | Prime
Tell Me Who I Am (2019)
Follows twin brothers as one uncovers horrifying truths about severe familial sexual abuse and exploitation perpetuated by their own family inside their home.
IMDb | Available on Netflix
Capturing the Friedmans (2003)
Examines a family unraveling under allegations of child sexual abuse and intra-familial abuse.
IMDb | Available on Prime and Amazon DVD
Abducted in Plain Sight (2017)
Details how a family friend and trusted neighbor groomed an entire family to sexually abuse and kidnap their young daughter multiple times.
IMDb | Available free on Tubi and Pluto TV
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)
Exposes child and forced marriage occurring legally in the United States through the testimonies of American survivors.
IMDb | Available free on Tubi and Plex
I Was a Child Bride: The Untold Story (2019)
Investigative journalist Elizabeth Vargas reveals the alarming reality of young girls forced or coerced into child marriage across various U.S. states.
Available free on YouTube
Sonita (2015)
After her family attempts to sell her into marriage, a young Afghan refugee in Iran channels her frustrations and seizes her destiny through music.
IMDb | Available on Netflix, Mubi, and Google Play in certain regions
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)
Uncovers systemic sexual abuse within USA Gymnastics by Larry Nassar and the corporate cover-ups that enabled it.
IMDb | Available on Netflix
The Hunting Ground (2015)
Investigates sexual assault and systemic institutional cover-ups across American college campuses.
IMDb | Available free on Plex and Tubi
Sex, Lies and the College Cult (2022)
Details psychological manipulation, abuse, and sexual exploitation within the Sarah Lawrence College cult.
IMDb | Available on Apple TV and Peacock
Sex Slaves in the Catholic Church (2018)
Exposes systemic sexual abuse and exploitation of nuns within the Catholic Church hierarchy.
Available on Prime
Timothy Busfield Sex Abuse Case Nation (2026)
Documents high-profile institutional sexual abuse allegations and court proceedings.
Available on Prime
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)
Examines the policy debate between consensual adult sex work, legal decriminalization efforts, and anti-trafficking law enforcement.
Available on Prime
Sex and Violence (2013)
Louis Theroux explores domestic violence, sexual assault crisis centers, and survivor support infrastructure.
IMDb | Available on Prime
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)
Exposes the consequences of China’s former One-Child Policy, detailing forced abandonments and state-involved child trafficking via international adoption networks.
IMDb | Available on Prime
Capernaum (2018)
Scripted narrative feature film providing a realistic portrayal of street youth, child neglect, poverty, and child marriage in Lebanon.
IMDb | Available on Prime
Other
Seyran Ateş: Sex, Revolution and Islam (2021)
IMDb | Available to rent or buy on Apple TV and Google Play; educational and academic licensing/streaming available through Film Platform
Ghost Fleet
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.
IMDb | Available on YouTube and Google Play
Nefarious: Merchant of Souls (2011)
Modern Slavery – A documentary exploring the sex-trade.
IMDb | Available on Prime
The Dark Side of Chocolate (2010)
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.
IMDb | Available on YouTube and Culture Unplugged
Nefarious: Merchant of Souls (2023)
A hard-hitting documentary exposing the global reality of modern-day sex trafficking while showcasing survivor testimonies.
IMDb | Prime