Stop The Traffick held its annual documentary in the auditorium on Wednesday, Sept. 20 after school for Downey High students to watch. The purpose of showing this film was to gain more awareness about human sex trafficking.

This year, Stop the Traffick showed the documentary titled 3 AM Girls which is based on the lives of young girls around the globe who are exploited each day in the sex trafficking industry. With tickets being sold for two dollars, students were encouraged to attend the screening to become more educated and aware of the hidden dangers of trafficking.

“We love to show this documentary because it helps students become more aware of the problem of sex trafficking and be safer,” advisor Ms. James said. “Also, we’re hoping that students who watch the documentary will get passionate about the issue and join the club to become active.”

Club president and senior Jasmine Mijangos hopes that if students learn anything, they should leave knowing that trafficking is an inhumane and immoral business that should be stopped.

“I just want people to know that it’s a problem and to especially focus on the domestic and underage issues,” Mijangos said. “Just knowing about the issue is usually enough to outrage others and influence them to take action.”

After watching the hour-long film, students generally had positive feedback to give and were truly impacted by the material observed throughout the documentary leading them to be more eager to join the cause of fighting against human trafficking.

“Before watching the movie, I never realized that the victims were forced into being trafficked by pimps. I always thought they chose to live that life,” Irie Casillas, 12, said. “Now that I’ve watched the film I look at the victims differently and want to help out.”

Since 2014, Stop The Traffick has been screening its annual documentary, along with other events such as Battle of  the Sexes, to help raise funds and motivate the students of Downey High to understand how dangerous sex trafficking is and to make a difference by joining the club.

“All of our events target either raising awareness or raising money for other organizations that are working hard on this issue,”Ms. James said. “We also go to conferences and meet with survivors at The Orangewood Foundation to brainstorm how to help support them.”

Stop The Traffick was able to generate over 350 dollars from the documentary. The proceeds from admission and snack sales will be donated to a local organization called The Orangewood Foundation which gives victims a place to live and recover from the trauma they endured while in captivity.