Entertainment

Special event: Sold screening and talk at QUB, February 23

Gillian Anderson in Sold, which screens at QUB next month
Gillian Anderson in Sold, which screens at QUB next month Gillian Anderson in Sold, which screens at QUB next month

ANTI-child trafficking charity Childreach International will be bringing a special preview screening of its new movie Sold to Belfast next month.

Based on the book by Patricia McCormick, directed by Oscar-winner Jeffrey D Brown and starring Gillian Anderson, Sold tells the harrowing story of Lakshmi (Niyar Saikia), a 13-year-old Nepali girl sold into the sex trade in India.

After the screening, a panel of experts will discuss the film, the issues it highlights and the importance of Childreach International's Taught, Not Trafficked campaign in tackling the problem of human trafficking.

Every year, tens of thousands of young girls are trafficked from Nepal to India and forced into domestic servitude and sexual slavery. Estimates suggest that human trafficking between Nepal and India has increased by 300 per cent since the 2015 earthquakes.

However, Childreach research indicates that children who stay in school until they are 16 are significantly less likely to be trafficked or exploited. Thus, the charity has so far opened 86 earthquake-resistant classrooms in Nepal's Sindhupalchowk district, allowing 2,082 children to return to school after their classrooms were destroyed.

"Our goal in Nepal is to stop trafficking before it begins, by ensuring children are educated and in a safe space in school," explains Tiffany Watts, executive director of Childreach International.

"Our work may be just a drop in the ocean, but through Sold we hope that our drop becomes a ripple and then a wave of change as others join us in the fight against trafficking."

:: For tickets and further details of the special screening, visit TaughtNotTrafficked.com.