Unseen: The Boy Victims of the Sex Trade

Today, Jose Alfaro lives with his partner of nine years and is a hair stylist on Newbury Street. But years ago, he was a homeless 16-year-old whose father assaulted him for being gay, and he was looking for help. And he thought he found it in Jason Gandy, a man in his 30’s who empathized with him and offered him a place to live. “It seemed like a dream, and at the time, not having anywhere to go,“ Alfaro says now. But the dream quickly became a grim reality. Gandy told Alfaro he would have to work in the older man’s “massage“ business, which was a euphemism for prostitution. Many young men have traveled the same path to homelessness and then to sexual exploitation — and young Black and brown men are disproportionately at risk. Read the “Unseen“ series on GBH News: Part 1: Part 2: #sextrafficking GBH News is a premier source for in-depth local news and original story telling based in Boston, Massachusetts. Subscribe to the GBH YouTube channel: Follow GBH News on Instagram: Like GBH News on Facebook: Follow GBH News on Twitter: We can’t do it without you. Support our award-winning community journalism by donating today: