Dr. Lois Lee of Studio City on Life, Lessons & Legacy

We recently had the chance to connect with Dr. Lois Lee and have shared our conversation below.

Lois, so good to connect and we’re excited to share your story and insights with our audience. There’s a ton to learn from your story, but let’s start with a warm up before we get into the heart of the interview. What are you most proud of building — that nobody sees?
I’m very proud of building a community of young women and men who were once child prostitutes – young people who were never seen – after everyone else had given up hope on them.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I am the Founder and President of Children of the Night, America’s first and most acclaimed non-profit social services agency designed to help rescue children from prostitution. I am renowned as the world’s leading expert in rescuing child sex trafficking victims. I hold a PhD in Sociology and Anthropology and a Juris Doctor in Law and is an active member of the California State Bar.
In 1973, I wrote a paper entitled “The Pimp and His Game,” the basis of her trainings of thousands of members of law enforcement and her expert testimony in state and federal courts since the ‘80’s. As a PhD student in Sociology in 1979, I discovered children, some as young as 11 years old, working as prostitutes on the streets of Hollywood for food to eat and a place to sleep. When I realized that these youngsters were “falling through the cracks” of the social service system, I made it my mission to help, opening my home to more than 250 children over the next three years. Thus, the non-profit organization Children of the Night was founded in 1979. Today, I continue to serve as President.
Children of the Night is the first established – and only – comprehensive sex trafficking program in the world devoted to the development of specialized programs and education for prostituted children and young people who need critical intervention to become successful adults.
Since 1979, Children of the Night has rescued over 17,000 American children from prostitution in the United States—more children than every other sex trafficking program combined. We maintain a 70% to 80% success rate with our life-changing work, which mobilizes children from prostitution to successful adult lives. Children of the Night graduates go on to become Homeland Security personnel, teachers, bankers, social workers, firefighters, while also securing a variety of positions within other professionals.
Throughout the years, Children of the Night has gained the reputation as one of the most prominent and successful organizations in the world addressing the needs of America’s sex trafficked children. Our pioneering work with child sex trafficking victims has blazed the trail for academics, researchers, law enforcement, social service providers, and legislators across the globe. As a result of our efforts, police now treat America’s child prostitutes as victims instead of criminals, and juvenile courts divert them to shelters, foster homes and treatment programs, rather than detention.
As a result of Children of the Night’s accomplishments, Congress and State legislators have developed tough laws against pimping and pandering and the customers who pay children for sex. Additionally, sex trafficking task forces have been created across the country.
I have received countless awards for my groundbreaking work, most notably the prestigious “President’s Volunteer Action Award,” presented to me by President Ronald Reagan at the White House in 1984. I also received the 1994 “National Caring Award,” and my portrait hangs in the Frederick Douglass Museum and Hall of Fame for Caring Americans in Washington, D.C.
I have been profiled on national television programs, including CBS’ 60 Minutes. My life story was portrayed in a 1985 CBS TV Movie of the Week entitled Children of the Night, starring Kathleen Quinlan, Nicholas Campbell and Mario Van Peebles. The movie was a fictionalized biopic which followed my work among young female prostitutes in Hollywood, and how these efforts led to my founding of the Children of the Night organization.
In 1989, I was lauded by rock musician/songwriter Richard Marx in his song entitled “Children of the Night” which appeared on his 1989 “Repeat Offender” album — proceeds were donated to help build Children of the Night’s world-class, 24 bed shelter home and school.
My training and programming materials remain in high demand worldwide by organizations attempting to stabilize their programs and grow. Diplomats come from all over the world to see our work firsthand and to learn from us in their efforts to help sex trafficked children in their homelands. Japan, Romania, Mexico, and Canada have sponsored my visits to assist in developing similar programs and to teach law enforcement in those countries how to intervene in the lives of child sex trafficking victims.
Christian organizations worldwide regularly meet with us for help in setting up similar shelter homes. During these meetings, I guide Christian personnel in developing case management, staffing, educational programs, and fundraising. Most important, I assist them with the grueling task of obtaining licensing from their governments, which are sometimes resistant to this kind of charitable work.
In 2013 and 2014, I was a speaker and presenter at Interpol’s Annual Global Trafficking in Human Beings conference. I continue to evaluate protocols and policies worldwide and advocates for the treatment of prostitution as a social problem, as distinguished from a law enforcement problem. I have been honored at the Carnegie Hall Stern/Perelman Auditorium by Music for Life (2011); was a presenter at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art for David Lynch’s Second Annual Gala Benefit “Change Begins Within” (2011); received the “Children’s Friend Award” from Childhelp (2010); received the “Women’s Achievement Award” from the Dashew International Center for Students and Scholars at UCLA (2002); was the recipient of the “Award of Appreciation” from The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (1995); and was also honored with “The Father Baker Award for Service to Youth – National Award” (1990,) to name just some.
My nearly 47 years of work continue to be well-archived through films, TV news segments, TV and Radio talk shows, print media and photographs, as well as within exhibits and permanent placements in museums and other sites. In 2023, I joined the Board of Directors of the EpsteinJustice.org project.
As we approach the upcoming 50th Anniversary of Children of the Night in 2029, I have, to date, raised well over $60 million in private donations to support our programs.
Today, Children of the Night publishes a regular monthly Newsletter distributed to over 10,000 people. In addition, I am the Host of the brand-new podcast, “The Dr. Lois Lee Show,” which can be found on the Children of the Night, Inc., YouTube Channel, and on Rumble. Please also see: www.drloisleeshow.com for more information.

Amazing, so let’s take a moment to go back in time. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
Catching the Hillside Stranglers and the LAPD’s refusal to listen to me.

If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
Let’s go get ’em!

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I remain committed to the institutionalization of social services designed specifically to rescue, stablize and educate prostituted children, worldwide.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. When do you feel most at peace?
I greatly enjoy and feel at peace when I’m talking with women and men who I rescued from prostitution when they were just young children. It’s a wonderfully rewarding experience.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.childrenofthenight.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/childrenofthenightinc/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/loislee2/
• Twitter: https://x.com/drloislee
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/childrenofthenightinc
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVxZPAgDl8M&list=PLTY-M9SSLPTNLWBsrlvHwPyuv0AuA_j5A
• Other: https://rumble.com/user/drloislee

Image Credits
All Photos Courtesy of Children of the Night 2025