Lloyd Presents 'Girls Like Us'
Rachel Lloyd, British anti-trafficking advocate and author of “Girls Like Us: Fighting For a World Where Girls Are Not For Sale,” kicked off the evening of October 15 by sharing a story of her involvement in sex trafficking and how she is proactive in halting the industry today.
Lloyd is the founder of the Girls Education and Mentoring Service as well as an advocate of the New York state’s Safe Harbour for Sexually Exploited Children Act.
She began her presentation by sharing an overview of her personal story regarding trafficking and her time in the sex industry.
She explained that she grew up in a small, impoverished English town where she dropped out of school at the age of 13, and ran away to Germany to try to find a better life.
By 17, she was involved in the sex industry and was pimped by her boyfriend. Lloyd was nearly murdered by the age of 19.
Lloyd was able to leave Germany and head to America, where she started the non-profit Girls Educational and Mentoring Services at age 22 in New York City.
Her talk focused mainly on the idea of empowerment. She explains the perception of sex-trafficking victims in movies such as Taken, is far from the reality.
Lloyd explains that victims in America today are women in their late teens and early twenties who are stuck in abusive relationships and do not have access to their own finances or records, as well as no options or opportunities outside of the sex industry.
Lloyd’s non-profit organization focuses on empowerment as well by advocating for victims in court, providing community and transitional housing and by leading the way to higher education for these victims.
Lloyd spent many of her days when she first started working for the non-profit at homeless shelters and nearby Rikers’ prison doing out-reach activities for victims.
Through this work, Lloyd met girls as young as eleven who were charged with prostitution and treated by law enforcement as pariahs.
From her own experience, she was able to look at these girls as smart, strong and resilient human beings who had been manipulated and coerced. Lloyd explains that she recognized the need for love, support, and practical resources such as housing and clothing for these girls.
The discussion of this topic in detail, and Lloyd’s own experience, welcomed an equally powerful response from the audience.
“I appreciate Rachel’s talk as a way to encourage men to get involved with the cause to end trafficking and gender-based violence,” says Theo Braman, who attended the event.
Lloyd even offered a call to action at the end of her speech. “She discussed how men must be the ones to talk to other men about buying sex in order to have a full cultural shift,” Braman recalls.
The presentation overall had both a powerful and positive impact on students and called a significant subject from its places behind closed doors.
“I think it is important to have these sort of discussions,” Braman commented. “Because it brings challenging topics to the light and allows for people to develop and understand each other.”
More information on Lloyd and on how to advocate for these victims is on her website for the Girls Educational and Mentoring Services.