OAKLAND — Night after night, a frantic mother drove along International Boulevard, a major hub for sex trafficking in California, in search of her 15-year-old daughter. She spotted her, not for the first time, standing on a corner on display for the Johns who prowl one of Oakland’s major thoroughfares looking to buy sex. The teen had on a big “Diana Ross-style wig,” says her mother, and was wearing the black and pink tennis shoes she’d bought her.

“I pulled up and I jumped out of the car barefoot and ready to pounce,” said the mother who used the pseudonym “Pamela” to protect her daughter. “She got in the car. Thank God that was the last time.”

“Pamela” tells the story of her relentless efforts to rescue her daughter from the streets in “Surviving International Boulevard.” The 20-minute documentary shines a spotlight on the trafficking of children and teens in plain view — an epidemic that has flourished in Oakland despite regular community protests and organizing efforts, promised crackdowns by authorities, outreach to child and teen victims and numerous media reports.

The film has been shown at locations around the country. It also was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2016. But until now, not in the East Oakland community where it takes place. On Jan. 20, Peralta Hacienda will host a screening in the city’s Fruitvale district, followed by a panel discussion.

Holly Alonso, executive director of Peralta Hacienda, went to a screening of “Surviving International Boulevard” at UC Berkeley. After she saw it, Alonso said, “I thought this just has to be shown in Fruitvale.”

“We want to raise awareness because it’s easy to just not go to that stretch of International Boulevard, or say that’s happening down there and there’s nothing you can do about it,” Alonso said. “But you can get involved in organizations like MISSSEY that are helping victims and think about the girls in a different way to see them as children in need of help.”

Reading this on your phone or tablet? Stay up to date on East Bay news with our new, free mobile app. Get it from the Apple app store or the Google Play store.

Alonso said poverty, hunger and other factors make children at risk for being coerced into sex trafficking and that educators at Fremont High School have told her about the powerful lure of International Boulevard for some students.

In the film, Pamela describes how her 15-year-old daughter was lured into sex trafficking by a man who was a neighborhood barber and had once come to their home to cut Pamela’s grandson’s hair. After her daughter disappeared, Pamela would call the police every time she found her. She prayed that juvenile authorities would hold her in custody, but each time she would be released. Pamela said her daughter was so determined to return to the streets, she cut off an ankle monitor to escape.

Sian Taylor Gowan, who directed and produced the film, said children in foster care, LGBTQ kids and other vulnerable populations are the most at risk. However, the teen in the film is an example of how even children with an involved, caring parent can become victims.

“She was a young girl who wanted to push the boundaries a little bit and pushed them too far,” said Gowan, a 47-year-old Bay Area native who produced the documentary for Red Scarf Films. “She let in the wrong guy who called himself her boyfriend, but he was her trafficker.”

One of the film’s main messages is that “prostitution,” a word that implies free will, should never be used in the context of children who are being forced onto the streets against their will.

The mother-daughter story is interspersed with that of Sarai-Smith Mazariegos, a co-founder of MISSSEY (Motivating, Inspiring, Supporting & Serving Sexually Exploited Youth) and S.H.A.D.E. (Survivors Healing, Advising and Dedicated to Empowerment). The nonprofits work to fight sex trafficking and empower victims.

Mazariegos said she was a victim of sexual exploitation and was abused from the time she was 4 until she was 18 years old. Now, she’s dedicated to helping kids who were like her.

Many people have the misconception that children and teens who are selling sex are choosing a particular lifestyle. However, Mazariegos said sex traffickers are modern-day slaveholders who “emotionally, mentally and physically” abuse their victims.

“When a girl or a boy is forced to have sex, that money goes straight to their pimp, period,” she said.

The “Surviving International Boulevard” film screening and panel discussion will take place at 6 p.m. Jan. 20 at Peralta Hacienda, 2488 Coolidge Ave., Oakland.

On Jan. 28, the third annual Voices for the Voiceless rally against human trafficking will take place in Oakland. The event begins at 11:30 a.m. near the Fruitvale Public Market area at 3340 East 12th St.