The streets of the Red Light District, adorned with women prowling in neon-laced storefronts like half-naked Barbie dolls in their boxes have become the iconic image of the modern-day sex industry. But the dark reality behind Amsterdam’s red glow spreads far beyond the city streets and creeps into the unsuspecting small towns many of us call home.

“I know I really shouldn’t brag about this, but the other night I made a pretty awesome bed out of these boxes at the corner of a gas station. I had a box pillow, walls and everything,” Alex says with an overly anxious laugh.

The carefully assembled framework of oppression that runs back to America’s conception takes on a new form in each passing generation, now like a silent force working diligently beneath the floorboards, out of sight from the unaffected passerby.

While many college kids are scrounging for their last few dollars as they stumble into Jeff’s on their way home from the bars, a few students are cashing in and heading home after a long night at the club.