The crisis is known by many, but truly seen by few — perhaps, until now.

Sex trafficking in Los Angeles operates in plain sight along a wide stretch of Figueroa Street, otherwise known as “the Blade.” Drivers looking for sex idle at curbs and roll down windows while traffickers watch from side streets, directing the girls they’ve recruited—some as young as 11—to meet nightly quotas.

Although the sex trafficking blight of South Central L.A. is widely known, its inner workings remain a mystery to most people. That changed on Oct. 26, when New York Times national health correspondent Emily Baumgaertner Nunn published a sweeping, two-and-a-half-year investigation that followed three women bound by the same fight.

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“This story was a reporter's dream, because everything was firstha

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