Girls Education and Mentoring Services

New York, NY, United States

Letting Girls Shine

Beauty, potential, resiliency, worth. These are the rare qualities Rachel Lloyd sees in adolescent girls who have survived sexual exploitation and abuse, and whose lives are showing the first gleam of hope.

A survivor of prostitution and violence in her youth, Lloyd began working with incarcerated teens in the late 1990s. “In these young women I saw so much untapped potential that was hidden under layers of abuse and pain,” she says. She founded Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS) in 1999 to prevent at-risk girls in New York City from entering the sex industry and to provide caring support and practical alternatives for those trying to secure a better life.

Targeting low-income adolescents of color between the ages of thirteen and twenty-one, GEMS goes directly to the places where girls are most vulnerable to sexual abuse and exploitation: on the streets and in the criminal justice and foster care systems.

The girls’ harsh experiences mirror broader realities. According to GEMS, 90 percent of young women involved in prostitution endured sexual abuse as children. Some 80 to 90 percent of young women in the criminal justice system have been physically or sexually abused.

To overcome their trauma, girls need caring relationships and specialized services. GEMS offers both, focusing on young women who might slip through the cracks of traditional agencies. Girls in the GEMS program receive mentoring and consistent adult support. They also have access to counseling, health and housing referrals, and leadership and job training—programs funded in part by the Global Fund for Children.

The organization’s goal is to foster resiliency and strength so girls can exit the sex industry and gain the skills they need to begin productive, independent lives. Prevention and advocacy are also critical. As cofounder of the New York City Task Force Against Sexual Exploitation of Young People, GEMS works to raise awareness about sexual exploitation and change public perceptions of victims. It educates at-risk girls and service providers about the issues and the challenges they face. The girls and young women GEMS serves add their voices to policy efforts, meeting with legislators and promoting laws to stop sexual abuse.

Three years ago, seventeen-year-old Shanequa was a runaway who had been sexually exploited and abused. “I felt,” she explained, “that all I was ever going to be was what I was—nothing.” Her involvement with GEMS has made her glitter and shine. “I’ve learned that I don’t have to settle for less,” she says now. “My worth is more than I know.”

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