This weekend, CNN International is airing a two-part series about human-traffickers in Africa, Europe, North and South America and Asia called Not My Life. The good news in this otherwise sad tale is that it tells the story of anti-trackers, who are dedicated to putting those who prey on the vulnerable out of business.
Across the world, man's inhumanity is secretly on show wherever human traffickers prey on those who are vulnerable. But there is also hope and inspiration in the stories of survivors, and the dedicated, but under-resourced, anti-traffickers.
For four years, Robert Bilheimer documented their stories in Europe, North and South America, Asia and Africa for the documentary "Not My Life" which airs on CNN International this weekend.
CNN sat down with the Oscar-nominated director to talk about the horrors of human trafficking and the uplifting tales of the survivors he met while filming.
CNN: Who are human traffickers?
RB: Human traffickers are lazy, amoral, essentially small-time criminals who earn their profits on the backs, and in the beds, of our planet's youth.
They are modern-day slave traders. They commit unspeakable, wanton acts of violence against their fellow human beings, and are rarely punished for their crimes. They are the great plague of the 21st century.
As former Ugandan child soldier "Grace" says in the video above, "This kind of evil must be stopped."
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