When I want to learn more about a subject I always turn to documentaries. They provide a quick way to get the facts and crucial information about an issue I am interested in and then if I want to learn more I turn to other resources including books, news articles, research papers, and the like.

While I know a considerable amount about two new documentaries coming to video on demand (VOD) this year, I know some don’t and can use these as jumping points to learn more about the maternal health crisis in the United States and sex trafficking around the world.

Aftershock

Aftershock, a documentary produced and directed by Paula Eiselt and Tonya Lewis Lee, tackles the crisis of maternal mortality in the United States and how it intimately affects fathers, families, and those who are on the frontlines on the march towards birth justice and maternal health reform.

Aftershock, the winner of Sundance’s US Documentary Special Jury Award: Impact for Change, follows the stories of two African-American fathers who found themselves having to raise children as single parents due to preventable and premature deaths of their significant others during childbirth. The documentary also follows midwives and physicians who are fighting against systemic bias in American maternal health care.

Recently acquired by Disney Onyx Collection and ABC News, Aftershock will be available soon on Hulu and on Star+ internationally and Disney+. Learn more at aftershockdocumentary.com.

Surviving Sex Trafficking

Oftentimes when we read or hear about sex trafficking we think about the 45 million women and girls globally who are going through it at the moment, but what about the one percent of women and girls who survive? What about those who escape or are rescued from their tormenters? Life does not end there as Surviving Sex Trafficking directed by Sadhvi Siddhali Shree explores. Instead, Surviving Sex Trafficking focuses on the aftermath and recovery of survivors.

Looking at sex trafficking from a global perspective the documentary tells the after stories of women who must live a new normal of being free from sexual exploitation and abuse.

“I just sat in the hospital and realized, like, this is not the way to live. Anything that I did to get me to this point has to die,” said one of the women featured in the documentary.

Shree asks the question: How do survivors of such horrific events move forward with their lives and heal?

Surviving Sex Trafficking will be in theaters on March 25 and on VOD April 15. Learn more at survivingsextraffickingfilm.com.