ABOUT THE FILM

Men and boys throughout the United States fall victim to modern-day slavery and are forced to sell their bodies for sex. While the movement of sex trafficking has brought significant awareness to female victims of trafficking, males have been starkly overlooked. 

Boys Documentary seeks to do just that - bring validity to the truth that males are victims of sex trafficking here in the United States.

In January 2014, Chris & Anna Smith joined forces with Kartal Peel to travel across the United States to film BOYS Documentary. Over several years this passion team conducted interviews with survivors, service care providers, and law enforcement in New York, North Carolina, Atlanta, Colorado, Washington DC, Illinois, Philadelphia, and Wisconsin.

Through their interviews, Chris, Anna, and Kartal gained an understanding of what male sex trafficking looks like within the United States. In search of an answer to the enormous problem, they found the rebounding voices of the men who identify as ones with lived experience as the most poppable testimony to healing and reliance. Here in Boys Documentary, they hold space for their stories to be seen, heard, and known. 

Boys Documentary tells the narrative of male sex trafficking through the voices of four brave men and a collection of allies who stand with them in solidarity. 

BOYS Documentary is a clear statement that absolutely boys and men are sex trafficked and our humanities response to be the antidote to this crime by standing with survivors.

The discussion around sex trafficking has been encompassed with gender stereotypes and stigmatizing language that highlights females sold for sex; rarely telling the story of male sex trafficking. For example, more than half of child pornography in the United States is of boys, a fueling demand that stems from male sex trafficking (Jones, 2011). 

The majority of reports and studies highlight females, thus adding adjunct definitions that blind dual gender recognition. While studies surrounding sex trafficking are varied, a national study noted that 31% of juveniles trafficked were male (Frinkelhor & Ormrod, 2004), and other noted that nearly half were male (Curtis et al., 2008).

Richards and Reid (2015) argue that when the bulk of American culture uses verbiage that denotes women and children as primary victims, it continues to fog glasses and overlook half of the sex trafficked population. 

Raising awareness through proper media portrayal is one antidote to helping boys and men get proper recognition. Gender stereotyping in the United States has misconstrued the reality that males are vulnerable victims rather than perpetrators of sex trafficking.  The media, policies, anti-trafficking organizations, and education systems have failed to acknowledge the increasing abundance of male sex trafficking victims. Half of commercial sexually exploited youths are male (“And Boys Too,” 2013). However, only 2 out of 37 programs operating accept male victims of sex trafficking (Jones, 2013).  In order to implement services for male victims, society must be made aware of their existence. Gender stereotyping is prevalent in the United States, making it a difficult task to create public awareness of males as the victim, rather than the perpetrator. Society follows the lead of authoritative bodies such as law enforcement, celebrities, media, educators, and social workers.  Training these publicly influential people and encouraging them to challenge social norms associated with males could lead to reshaping gender stereotyping and the impact it has on sex trafficked males.