Currently Viewing: Born Into Brothelsa

First and foremost. The children highlighted in this documentary are incredibly well-spoken, they make it much too easy for Americans like me to forget that they are only children. Their intelligence somehow makes their plight worse. The young girls featured are very aware of the futures they will lead if they remain uneducated in the red-light district; they see no way around this lifestyle and neither do I. There is no education, no privilege, and therefore no options.

Fathers try to sell of their girls, aunts put them 'in the line' to increase cash-flow into the household. From what I've seen, the girls are "lucky" if they can hold off this lifestyle until reaching the age of 15. Also heartbreaking is that their young male counterparts wish they could help as well, but they just can't and that is an unbelievable realization for an idealist such as myself.

Hearing the casual way the horrors of their realities are spoken by the kids reminded me somewhat of the semester I volunteered with Shelter our Sisters in Bergen County. Paul and I worked at the day-care. The kids behaved "normally," they bickered, they laughed, they played. Every so often, when they spoke, the strangest things about their lives would come out in the open (a Christmas tree with only one ornament, their perception of why mom won't let dad back into the house, etc...). Except here, the kids aren't talking about mom or dad, they are talking about their very real futures.

As an adult American woman, I feel hopeless about my future, but not once have I ever been forced to entertain the notion of selling myself for money and survival.

Privilege.

If they are BORN with HIV they have literally no options. No schools will accept them. When I found out they were all negative I cried about it

This documentary also features a photography who teaches the children to take photos of their lives, and also jumps through the hoops of a disorganized, uncaring system to get these kids some sort of education.

Anyway- watch it if you can. As an artist, it is amazing to see the impact that art is having on these children, using it as a tool for therapy, research, and a way out.