​The stars of Sold are made ambassadors of Childreach International

Hollywood actors Seirah Royin and Neerja Naik have become ambassadors for children’s rights organisation Childreach International.

Both feature in the film Sold, which tells the story of 13-year-old Lakshmi, a girl from a mountain village in Nepal who is trafficked across the Indian border and sold to a brothel in Kolkata.

The film has partnered with Childreach International to launch the #TaughtNotTrafficked campaign to raise funds to roll out a programme in high risk areas of Nepal to keep children in education, one of the single biggest factors to making them less vulnerable to trafficking.

Sold premiered on 10 July at the London Indian Film Festival, where it won the audience award for best film.

The team behind the film, which includes Academy Award winning director Jeffrey D Brown, David Arquette and X-Files star Gillian Anderson all support Childreach International.

I am so proud to be supporting Childreach International and the #TaughtNotTrafficked campaign

Royin, who shared a screen with Larry David on Curb Your Enthusiasm and plays NGO worker Mrs Tripathi in Sold, said: “Filming Sold on location in India has really touched my heart. To research the role of Mrs. Tripathi, an NGO worker who helps to rescue girls from forced prostitution, I spoke to sex trafficking survivors who shared their stories of false promises and enslavement.

“I am so proud to be supporting Childreach International and the #TaughtNotTrafficked campaign, which is tackling the problem at its roots, ensuring children receive education and stay in schools, which makes them much less likely to be trafficked.”

Neerja Naik, who graduated from Cambridge and trained at Drama Centre London, plays a trafficked girl Anita in Sold.

She said: “There was a moment during filming Sold, when the reality of the horror of subjecting a thirteen-year-old girl to forced prostitution hit me, and my heart burned with indignation at the estimated 200,000 Nepali girls forced to work in brothels in India.

“I wanted to help do something, and am hugely honoured and excited to be working with Childreach International on #TaughtNotTrafficked, which will keep girls in schools. Sold is ultimately a film about hope, and with #TaughtNotTrafficked and #igivehope on World Day Against Trafficking, we can keep this hope alive."

Firoz Patel, CEO of Childreach International, said: “We are so delighted to announce two very talented actresses from the film Sold as our first Childreach International Ambassadors.”