WARNING: Graphic material.
Millions of girls and boys are trafficked into places where they are exploited, sexually violated, and abused on a daily basis.
Lucy Liu, known for the strong roles she plays as an actress, is using her influence and vision to bring attention to the worldwide epidemic of child sex trafficking with the new film MEENA.
The film, which is Liu’s directorial debut, is based on the brave and inspirational real life story of Meena Haseen. The film’s story is an adaptation of a chapter from the best-selling book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn.
Meena is a brave Indian woman who at 8 years old was kidnapped by her uncle and sold to a brothel. For over a decade she was forced into sexual slavery. She gave birth to two children while in captivity, the baby girl she had was taken from her by the brothel. Years later, after a harrowing escape, Meena returned to the brothel to rescue her daughter.
MEENA was filmed during a month long production in Mumbai, India. This searing depiction of sex trafficking in India was made to help bring awareness to UNICEF’s child protection programs worldwide and to raise awareness about the issue and to gain support in helping end the violence.
Learn more about child sex trafficking by visiting UNICEF and Apne Aap.