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The practice of child sex slavery has been branded as 鈥渄isturbing and so ugly鈥� by the actress Gillian Anderson.

But the X Files star is determined that the plight of 1.8 million children who are trafficked into sexual slavery each year is highlighted to a global audience.

Gillian appears in a new film called Sold 鈥� about a 13-year-old girl in Nepal sold unknowingly by her poverty-stricken parents to an Indian brothel.

Ahead of its American release on April 1, she told : 鈥淚t鈥檚 always important to choose the causes that break our hearts and this, the thought of children being trafficked for sex, breaks my heart. So I feel quite empowered and impassioned.鈥�

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More than 20 million people are enslaved today 鈥� over 5.5 million of them children, according to the . The global child protection network says the average age of a trafficked child is 13 鈥� the same age as Lakshmi in Sold.

Child trafficking robs its victims of their fundamental human rights. They are deprived of education, proper healthcare and the opportunity to be in a safe environment with their families and other children.

The chaos in Nepal after last year鈥檚 earthquakes has meant a rise in child trafficking. Dr Tshering Lama of recently estimated that 鈥渉undreds if not thousands of children will have been trafficked as a direct result of conditions caused by the earthquakes鈥�.

Gillian, best known for her role as Agent Dana Scully in the hit American TV series and films, plays a photographer who joins forces with an activist group trying to rescue enslaved women and children.

She said of child trafficking: 鈥淚t is so disturbing and so ugly but what鈥檚 important is that it is in our face so that we are moved to action.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a very difficult movie. It鈥檚 a difficult subject matter to talk about children being systematically raped but we need to get past that.鈥�

A shorter version of Sold has been made, which is suitable to be shown in schools. Communities can also ask for the film to be shown at a local cinema.

Director Jeffrey D. Brown said: 鈥淲e hope Sold will focus world attention on the plight of sexually exploited children in the way a film like An Inconvenient Truth galvanised awareness for global warming.鈥�

Emily Pasnak-Lapchick, End Trafficking Program Officer for the US Fund for UNICEF, said: 鈥淪old humanises the issue of child trafficking. By pulling us into the world of one child who is trafficked, the film provides insight into the horrors children experience but also illustrates the resilience they have to overcome such horrible situations.鈥�