Last Friday, GEMS came over to SMART Youth to teach an
important workshop. GEMS stands for Girls Educational & Mentoring Services
and is the “only organization in New York State specifically designed to serve girls and young women who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking.” Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Domestic
Trafficking is sexual activity involving a child under the age of 17 in exchange
for money, services, or other things of value.
It’s hard for a lot of us to recognize that commercial sexual
exploitation happens in our very own communities. Often times when we think of commercial
sexual exploitation, a very specific image comes to mind and it’s usually of
someone from outside of the United States; but we don’t realize that
prostitution or sex work involving minors in the US is also considered
commercial sexual exploitation. In New York City, it is estimated that 2,200 children are involved in commercial sexual exploitation every year.
There are many factors that can increase the risk of a child
becoming domestically trafficked such as poverty, running away, child
abuse/neglect, and sexual abuse, but these are not the only factors. This was
highlighted when we watched a clip Very Young Girls, which is a documentary revealing
this issue of youth being sexually exploited.
How can we help and become advocates? One way is to
challenge our assumptions of what a victim of sexual exploitation looks like.
Often, people see young girls (usually of color) who may be involved in some
sort of sex work and assume the worst of them. They may blame the victim and say
things like “She made a choice to be a prostitute/sex worker.” We need to
remember that a child is still a child and that no child can independently choose
to be a sex worker.
If you want to find out more about the work GEMS does, about
Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Domestic Trafficking of children, or how to
link someone who is a victim of this to services, check out the links below:
- Main website: http://www.gems-girls.org/
- If you want to refer a young girl who may be involved in domestic trafficking: http://www.gems-girls.org/what-we-do/victim-referral-form
- Resources and Facts: http://www.gems-girls.org/about/research-resources
Thank you to GEMS for visiting and giving a very informative
presentation!
