tourism. for years the u.s. statement has been working with -- state department has been working with countries trying to protect these children and u.s. justice department has been going after offenders. a ground break lawsuit currently playing out in a federal court in minnesota and the lawsuit is dividing a tight community of immigrants from laos. i sat down with the plaintiff, a woman from southeast asia who says that an american man raped her. >> translator: i wonder to myself what will happen to me if my parents find out that i have been raped and then i ask myself what will happen to me if he doesn't agree to marry me. >> panea vang was just 14 whether she left her home. lured from her home by a much older american man vang says instead of becoming a sing are she became a victim. of child sex tourism. >> i was sitting in his hotel room, looking at the clothes and the shoes that he had bought for me and i wanted to leave but he said take a seat have a seat just relax and let's just talk. so as i was sitting here and looking at the items that he bought for me, everything that occurred just happened so fast. >> reporter: vang says she weigh repeatedly raped in that hotel room by the american over the course of the next three days. she became regula pregnant. >> my mother immediately began to chastise me. she asked me how could i have gone and shamed my family in this way? my world was very, very dark during those years. and then of course when i gave birth to my child, i experienced a host of difficulties because i didn't know how to raise the child. i didn't know how to care for the child. >> explain to me the cultural difference. why would you as a rape victim be concerned about bringing shame to your family? >> translator: i don't know how it is in other parts of the world or if for example in the united states how a victim feels once she has been raped. and what the people around her will -- how they will behave toward her. but in my hmong community in laos, a daughter who has been raped who doesn't eventually get married to the man who raped her is seen as someone who is less than clean, someone who is dishonorable and shameful. >> panea's 42-year-old accused attacker was a hmong american man who traveled to laos from st. paul, minnesota. minnesota has the sedg second lt hmong population in the u.s. >> when i was in high school and whether i was in college i had several encounters with women, very young girls who had been brought over from laos, women who had been abused by their husbands and i saw how difficult it was for these women and these girls to stand up for themselves. >> sea hurr is an advisor to the governor. she recently helped secure almost a quarter million dollars from the state to study the problem of child sex tourism and human trafficking in the hmong community. >> i happen to think that it is a result of the affluence of this community to go back and forth laos, to have money to send over to these young girls in laos, so that you can keep them looped in, right, so that you can keep them emotionally attached to you because they need money and you have the money. members of the hmong community men they have shared with me that they are actually doing a service to the hmong families in laos. >> oh really? >> that without them, these young girls could only dream of america. that they would never see the statue of liberty. >> even as this discussion is lapping the perpetrators are juferg it. >> of course. they are doing these girls a service. without them these girls would never get to america. >> like rape now if you walked around st. paul there are women walking around that were raped at these young ages, brought over here? i mean is this -- >> everywhere. everywhere. >> linda miller is the founder and executive director of the civil society. it is a group that helps victims get access to legal aid and counseling. >> linda -- >> miller and sea herr met vang soon after she migrated to minnesota. on her behalf miller has filed what she believes is the first lawsuit of its kind in america. it seeks almost a half a million dollars for violations of federal laws on child sex tourism and human trafficking. >> what is the goal of your lawsuits of pena's lawsuit? >> my goal is to bring out another way of -- to stop the demand for sex with children. so i feel so lucky to have the perfect case to do it with. >> what makes this the perfect case? >> the credibility of the client, the bravery of the client. the fact that the client is here. the client is protected. and the client has all the evidence that she needs to prove the case. >> the case is currently in the hands of a u.s. district judge. vang's accused attacker claims he broke no laws. saying in a deposition that sex with minors is acceptable in hmong culture in laos. >> she wasn't trying to seduce this guy so she could get a free ride to the united states. her father brought her here. so that's an issue that i know a lot of the hmong people don't understand about this case. because they are assuming that she manipulated and tried to get this guy to bring her to the united states. because that is very common. >> reporter: how unique do you think your story is? >> translator: i don't know that my story is all that unique. all i know is that i would like to get my story out there, so that others may be aware of the kind of evilness that lurks behind seemingly innocent faces. so that others can avoid the story that has become my story. >> reporter: what message do you have specifically for hmong american men engaging this this practice? >> hate me all you want. the hmong community. anyone in the hmong community hate me all you want. say whatever you want to me and about me. it doesn't matter to me anymore. my goal is to tell this story so this story doesn't get repeated. that's all that matters to me. >> reporter: how do you find the strength? what's driving you to be so brave? >> translator: i'm not going to come up a loser. i have a story to tell and i'm going to tell the story and that story comes from the place of such indignation, that it has turned into the kind of courage that i'm showing now in telling my story. >> coming up later: beating the odds. the prize fighter punching far above her weight. and hot on "america tonight's" website now. mexico apri's migrant crack dow. why are thousands of children fleeing central america being deported before they reach the u.s. border. find out at aljazeera.com/americatonight. >> every monday night. >> i lived that character. >> go one on one with america's movers and shakers. >> we will be able to see change. >> gripping... inspiring... entertaining. "talk to al jazeera". monday, 6:00 eastern. only on al jazeera america. >> and welcome back. in our fast forward, it's a shelter that almost everybody says is certainly not a home. hundreds of families live in dc general and the conditions there are deplorable. while problems have long persisted, it was not until the disappearance of eight-year-old relisha rudd a few years ago that people began paying attention. how that could have led to a child's disappearance. >> this old hospital building was once home for eight-year-old relisha red and her mother, shamika young. >> it's a mess to be honest with you it is no place for children unfortunately. >> how many people were packed in a room, your room? >> i.t. was six of us. >> in 2014 the family was among 300 others living at d.c. general, washington's largest family homeless shelter. at the time it housed nearly 600 children. not the ideal place for kids, said jamila watson. >> they go through security every die get into the shelter. they eat in the cafeteria, very institutional, it mate be loud chaotic very different from the privacy of their own home. it is a very stressful place for children and families to be. >> jim graham is the former head of d.c.'s human services committee charged with shelter oversight. >> there were people that led the rudd family down. >> after the relisha rudd case, he oversaw hearings. he found incident reports showing weapons assaults and drugs at d.c. general, he also found four staff members had been fired for inappropriate relationships with residents. >> when are we going to close this thing? we had the former director of this issue saying d.c. general is dead. >> the player would have from my office a plan as to how we would go about closing d.c. general. >> the hearings culminated in a government promise to shut down the shelter. >> there were rats, there's roaches, central things like toilet tissue and soap they ran out a lot. >> tamika smawlka smalls said sd there for a time after she was foreclosed. here is her room packed with six beds. >> the younger children is harder. a bunch of children they feel like they're in a pigpen, running around, hollering and screaming. if you didn't have to do it, i wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy. >> multiple d.c. mayors vowed to end homelessness. former mayor vincent gray vowed to find loams for shelter families, the government moved fewer than 400 families. >> mayor, can you tell me why anyone in the community could have faith that this plan will work when so many previous administrations have tried to fix problem and have been unsuccessful? >> we know we're dealing with a very tough issue and it's incumbent upon all of us, me who's just over 40 days in office or maybe not quite 40 days in office to look at the programs that have worked. and make them better. >> and are you confident that kids there today are safer than they were a year ago, when relisha rudd went missing? >> i don't think that any of us can be happy when we have such a large facility where families are living. d.c. general was built as a hospital. and as such it is not the optimal environment to raise families. >> but are they safer? >> i have answered your question. >> it's not much safer this year than last year because we have not -- what it would take to really make d.c. general function is a wrap around services of the type that would cost more than the city is willing to pay for right now. >> just a quick question about relisha rudd because -- >> thank you she has to go. >> we wanted to see firsthand what kind of place it is for a child and we've been asking to get in for nearly year but city officials walked away from us. >> we wanted to see if we could get into the d.c. general to see because there have been and i wanted to know how many registers have been put into place? >> i'll follow up. >> are you sure you will follow up because -- >> i promise. >> though the process is slow, d.c. general has seen some improvement since relisha rudd disappeared. there are two more security guards, a new attendance protocol and there's a new playground making the shelter a little more child-friendly. >> her abduction really shed light on this population of being child-invisibility here. there is a whole population of children here. >> home advocates say the recent changes at d.c. general just scratch the surface. >> i don't know anyone who think d.c. general is a great place that needs to stay indefinitely a shelter. it is really a matter of community will, let's integrate communities who experience homelessness into community based shelters. >> the biggest fear not enough has been done to keep another child like relisha rudd from slipping through the cracks. lori jane gliha, al jazeera. >> well we fast-forward and city officials now say they will close d.c. general, study the need to provide better living conditions for the city's homeless. mayor muriel bowser wants to end that program, with a goal of doing that in five years. coming up next fighting weight, already an olympian coming back. and the growing fear of el nino, what exactly is el nino, plowk examines the potential intact and what the states is doing to avoid disaster. >> flint, michigan is known for its grittiness. that city created some tough characters. but clarissa shields just won her olympic trials by the second straight time by a unanimous decision. she'll be the only returning female boxer for team u.s.a. in 2016. sarah hoye with the champion known as t rex. >> it's just after 10 in the morning and clarissa shields is midway through her morning run. the 20-year-old is out training along saginaw street, along crumbling buildings and liquor stores, out to defend her ar ti. abandoned home and vacant lots, the remaining evidence of better times. >> it's like any other african american community that has poverty. everyone wants to fight over the last dollar, over their last nickel. >> flint's most famous female boxer is no stranger to the heart knocks of life. she beat the odds. her father was behind bars while her mother struggled against alcohol. and a family member abused her. >> i was molested as a child. i was raped and i box, that is not it. i was raped and i box. that's it. resilience is the word, doesn't matter what your father is, what your mother is, they're not you. i haven't had the worst parents but they're pretty close, i think. and you know thank god that you blessed them to change. but you know as a young child, i think the more things that you go through, it builds character. >> here you have this dream of going through olympics, getting a gold medal. sometimes success scarce people. and they almost self-sabotage. >> yes. >> was there ever a time when you were actually afraid of winning gold? >> yes. i was afraid of winning gold the last match. i knew i could beat the girl before we entered the ring, i just knew it. i just remember thinking wow, all these people are going to come around who i know are just users and you know going to be trying to manipulate me, use me and i was like if i get silver maybe it won't be so many. after that, i just turned up. >> clarissa first turned up at the ring at 11 and never looked up. at 17 she won the first american medal in women's boxing after beating russia's fighter 19-12. >> when you won gold how did that feel? >> when he put that medal around my neck, if you -- you got to look it up. i just started shaking oh my god, i just was like wow, i had a picture of the gold medal in my phone but actually having it around my neck to touch it, it's so big, so heavy, i was just like woo, did i work for this medal! it was wowrt i worth it for me. i slept with my gold medal for at least a week, i didn't want to take it off. >> you had this floation that people woulfloation thatpeople e woodwork, did they? >> they told me they were related to me. they probably knew it but they didn't make it known me. that happens to how many celebrities. how many relatives does michael phelps have? >> she's the number 1 middleweight in the world.and has already qualified for the next olympics. there was no wheaties box with her face on it or any major endorsements. there hasn't been any major promotions. but the documentary t rex was premiered this march chronicling her life story. >> the announcers, they don't say, and the first wo women olympian at 165 pounds is clarissa shields. >> since winning gold, clarissa left her long time coach. >> i know it's going to be tough because boxing isn't like a -- it's what you call, it's important to us, as far as to america is not like that. is not every household is tuned in like they tuned in to swimming or track. >> gymnastics. >> or gymnastics. not like that, it's a sport that we love that's important to us. i'm glad it came back to prime time boxing as far as you being able to watch it on regular boxing, the elite fighters fighting on regular television is a good thing, i think it will be good for her as well. >> now it's run, rest, train, and repeat. >> as you see, she's developed into being the world champion. she's a great fighter, she's determined to win. she, i mean everything about her i mean is just all the fittings of a champion and that's why she is champ. >> between workout sessions, clarissa stops by her sister michelle's house, before visiting with family before training for the next couple of weeks. >> it's really easy to get caught up, this society to get caught up in trouble or drugs, especially when you're around, surrounded by it, family members and friends. it's hard and clarissa has always been around that. when you are so determined focused on only what you want in life you aim for it and you achieve it. and that's what clarissa has been doing. she's accomplished it. all the trial and tribulation that she's been true especially coming from where we come from, living in this area flint, michigan i'm just proud of her. >> from driving alongside clarissa when she runs, to filming her when she shadow boxes, big sister michelle is in her corner. >> whatever clarissa earned it wasn't given oher. anything she earned she deserve it. >> what is it about boxing you love so much? . >> i love a lot about boxing i love -- i just love to fight. that's not being a bully. i love fighting. and i love contending, being able to work hard and being put to the test and passing. i love getting my hand raised. i do, i love getting my hand raised, that's the ultimate happiness. i want people to know that i am not cocky, i'm confident, i'm a hard worker, follow me in 2016 so we can do it again two times. >> sarah hoye, al jazeera, flint, michigan. >> she proves you can be flies and tough at the same time. we wish her the very best. that's it for us. tell us what you think go to aljazeera.com/americatonight, you can also talk to us on twitter or our facebook page, please come back we'll have more of "america tonight" right here tomorrow. >> our american story is written everyday. it's not always pretty, but it's real... and we show you like no-one else can. this is our american story. this is america tonight. >> securing the skies. >> we can't rule anything outs including the possibility of terrorist involvement. >> the u.s. boosts security checks, and russia stops all flights to egypt, a theory this a bomb took down the airliner in the sinai. free and fair? >> even if opposition parties would win 100% of the seats elected to them the