Gillian Anderson joins fight against human trafficking after accepting role in new film 'Sold'

'I am part of a campaign to end slavery.'

Gillian Anderson, best known for her role as Special Agent Dana Scully in the FOX hit series "The X-Files," admitted she was shocked to learn the truth about human trafficking.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Anderson was approached to play a photographer in the film "Sold," which follows the life of a 13-year-old girl who is sold into a human sex trafficking ring in modern-day India.

Anderson told CBS she felt a passion for the role after researching human trafficking.

She was so moved she joined a campaign to bring awareness and to fight the human trafficking industry.

"I don't think a lot of people fully realize what in industry sex trafficking is in the world," she stated. "Forced labor, child labor and sexual exploitation generate about $150 billion every year. It's all ages -- from toddlers to teenagers.

"On the one hand it's easy to disassociate because it's on the other side of the world. But the fact is what the campaign is bringing to the light is that it's also in our own backyard

"...High school students go missing and they are either forced into indentured labor or forced into prostitution where there is violence and they don't get paid for being a sex slave.

"And they get brainwashed into being a part of a community and they are terrified for their lives to escape -- and even sometimes when they do escape for how they are then treated like criminals when they are picked up by law enforcement. They end up going straight back into it ... it needs attention."

Anderson's involvement comes at a time when countries like India are facing the worst human trafficking crises they have ever seen.

ABC reported babies were discovered in biscuit containers as smugglers desperately search for new ways of transporting children.

A senior official from the Crime Investigation Department (CID) reported two babies were discovered in cardboard boxes in a medical storeroom during a raid, leading to the arrest of the owner, midwives and other staff as well as court clerks who are believed to have created fake documents for the children.

The head of a charity that runs an adoption center was also arrested.

Bharat Lal Meena, the deputy inspector general for CID reported: "The inquiry is underway and more information will be revealed only after some more progress is made."

The initial investigations revealed unmarried girls and women who visit the clinic for abortions were persuaded to instead sell their newborns.

Local news reports claim mothers were given 300,000 rupees ($5,900) for boys and 100,0000 rupees($2,000) for girls.

Babies were also stolen from women who delivered healthy children but were told their children were stillborn. Some mothers were even shown the bodies of other stillborn babies, police reported.

Once the mothers either sold or lost their newborns, smugglers used snack containers and cartons to an adoption center, where they were sold at exorbitant prices.

Unfortunately, two infant remains were discovered at one compound, indicating not all attempted smugglings go as planned.

Reports of human trafficking in India have increased by 25 percent since last year and over 40 percent of children purchased are exploited as modern day slaves.

The National Crime Records Bureau reported 6,877 cases related to human trafficking last year, compared to 5,466 in 2014 - and those are only the reported cases.

The India Times reported ten babies were rescued from a home for the mentally challenged and a doctor was arrested.

The arresting official explained the doctor, Tapan Biswas, was associated with the Baduria nursing home and is the second doctor arrested in the ongoing human trafficking investigation.

"We had been in search of Biswas since the racket was busted on November 21," the official stated. "He used to misdirect child-expecting couples coming to the Baduria nursing home. And when a baby was delivered, the doctor used to tell the family members that the mother has delivered a dead baby."

Biswas and Dr. Basanti Chakraborty, who is linked to the mentally challenged nursing home, were both brought to CID headquarters, where they were interrogated for several hours.

CID has not released any information the doctors gave but officials continue a series of raids at nursing homes related to the case.

"Raids will continue until we reach the deepest root of this racket," officials stated.

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