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We hope this story horrifies you
‘Stolen Lives’ is National Geographic’s investigation of a human rights tragedy: the sexual enslavement of children for profit in India and Bangladesh.
“Before they were sold to the same brothel, Sayeda and Anjali were typical teenagers, growing up in similar circumstances a few hundred miles apart.”
That is the understated opening of a story that I hope shocks and alarms every person who reads it, and moves readers to action. “Stolen Lives,” by Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, is a revelatory investigation of a human rights tragedy: the sexual enslavement of children for profit.
A multibillion-dollar industry, sex trafficking of minors spans the globe and ensnares millions of children—most fleeing grinding poverty, illiteracy, and an utter lack of opportunity. Most of its victims are girls.
