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"Very Young Girls" is an arresting new documentary about the lives of teenage prostitutes in the U.S. Produced by the Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS), a nonprofit that works with girls trying to escape the sex trade, the film follows several girls who have been sucked into the world of sex trafficking.

How Does This Happen?
According to GEMS, the average age that young women enter into "the life" (slang for prostitution) is 13. Intimate interviews with the group's members reveal a disturbing cycle of young women leaving dysfunctional homes only to be approached by men who present themselves as boyfriends or father figures.

Once these fragile young women become psychologically dependent on these pimps -- and, in many cases, physically addicted to the drugs they've supplied -- things change. Pimps begin applying pressure on the women to prove their loyalty and repay their kindness by earning money on the street.



The film includes actual footage of young girls on the street shot by pimps who'd hoped to sell their video to a reality show (it wound up being used as evidence against them). Even more disturbing is a scene in which a young woman named Shaquanna wakes up the hospital, badly bruised and with teeth missing, after an attack she doesn't remember.

The Cost of Getting Out
Young prostitutes are limited by more than just finances. Trying to flee can result in beatings and rape by their pimps, and the justice system often treats them as criminals rather than victims.

The psychological ties to the only family many of them have ever known are hard to sever -- several girls profess love for their pimps even after leaving life on the street. Ebony (on the right in the photo above), fled GEMS once for her pimp's home in Miami. Back in New York in another attempt to go straight, she struggles with how people look at her.

The film premiered on Showtime last week and airs throughout the month, as well as on Showtime On Demand.

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