Documentary: The Sex-Trafficking Cycle For Women In American Prisons

The Guardian worked for over a year on this investigative 30-minute documentary that exposes how women are recruited for prostitution inside American prisons. It's a perverse cycle that is happening all across the United States, where the female inmate population is on the rise.

As soon as they are arrested, these women become targets because their personal information is made public. Once the traffickers know their names, age, how they look, where they are being held, they will start writing letters to them. Many of these women have a history of drug addiction and come from broken homes. They are extremely vulnerable and, therefore, an easy target for those wishing to exploit them.

The promise of a loving relationship and the money that these men start sending them while in jail gets them hooked. For the pimps, it's just an investment they hope to get back as soon as their target comes out of prison and they can begin taking advantage of them.

The documentary portrays some of the victims of this pattern –grooming, recruitment, and trafficking – and it reflects, ultimately, how the lack of support and recovery programs after they come out of jail is contributing to push these women into prostitution. With a history of substance abuse and a criminal record that ensures they won't likely be hired for a job, women are walking straight out of prison and into the hands of pimps.