Girls Like Us

I recently finished reading an excellent memoir by Rachel Lloyd (executive director of GEMS: Girls Educational and Mentoring Services). Girls Like Us chronicles not only her own personal story, but those of the girls she has worked with over the years, since founding GEMS in 1998. Through her non-profit organization, she helps girls and young women make the transition from a life of sexual exploitation to one on their own terms. GEMS serves as a much needed support system for the girls, providing not just shelter but counseling, court advocacy, and educational/vocational assistance. It strives to not only empower the girls it serves directly, but to put an end to all commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking of children.

A survivor of "the life" herself, Lloyd puts a name and a face on the issue. She humanizes what others demonize and criminalize. Detailing the horrendous ordeals she has triumphed over, she presents the reality of the commercial sex industry that profits from the abuse, torture, and enslavement of American girls--girls who should be in school instead of on the streets. In the United States, the average age of recruitment for underage girls is between 12-14 years, according to a Department of Justice-funded report (the FBI estimates age of entry for children as 12).

The theme running throughout the book is compassion. Lloyd urges the reader to see these girls as victims (and ultimately survivors) rather than as criminals participating in their own exploitation. She argues that entry into the sex trade by teenage girls is not about choice, but rather a lack of choices. I could not agree more. What these girls need is indeed compassion and empowerment, but certainly not the punishment that the criminal justice system too often hands down. Punishment should be reserved for those committing the exploitation--the pimps, the johns, the traffickers.