Rachel Lloyd

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Rachel Lloyd
CMG
Born1975 (age 48–49)
Stalbridge, Dorset, England
OccupationCEO
Known forHuman trafficking advocate, author, founder of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services

Rachel Elizabeth Lloyd CMG (born 1975) is a British anti-trafficking advocate, author and the founder of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services. She is known for her work on the issue of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking and has been a leader in helping shift the perception of trafficked girls from criminals to victims and now to survivors and leaders. She immigrated to the US in 1997 and began working to end domestic sex trafficking, primarily focusing on addressing the commercial sexual exploitation of children and young women. In 1998, she established the Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, which is based in Harlem, New York.

Contents

In March 1998, Lloyd attended the first International Summit of Sexually Exploited Youth, presented by the International Centre to Combat Exploitation of Children, held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. During the summit, she assisted in drafting a declaration and call to action by governments throughout the world. On 22 October 2009, she presented the declaration at the United Nations, following which, it was ratified by 120 countries. [1] [2]

In 2004, Lloyd was named one of the "100 Women Who Shape New York" by the New York Daily News . [3] On 4 September 2006, she was recognised as a "Notable New Yorker" by WCBS-TV. [4] Later that same year, she was also honoured with the Reebok International Human Rights Award. [5] In 2008, she was the recipient of the Social Entrepreneurship Award from the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, while two years later, she was named to an Ashoka Fellowship and a Prime Mover Fellowship. On 12 May 2010, she was named "New Yorker of the Week" by NY1. [6]

Early life

Rachel Lloyd was born in 1975, in Stalbridge, Dorset, England, where she was raised by her mother and stepfather. She attended private school on a scholarship to Portsmouth High School for Girls. [7] While attending Portsmouth, she was on the receiving end of racial prejudice and taunting, expressed by both the school administration and members of her peer group. [8] In response to the treatment she received at school and home, Lloyd left school at the age of 13.

In an interview published in Marie Claire magazine, Lloyd stated, "I was 17 when I turned my first trick, compared with the 12-year-olds I meet today." [9] When she was 17 years old, she moved to Germany, in an effort to change her life. In 1994, Lloyd started on the road to recovery with the help of a military family and a church on a US Air Force base in Germany. [8] [10]

Life in New York

In 1997, Lloyd immigrated to the US to begin working with incarcerated adult women. She began working with adult women who were coming out of prostitution, as well as women incarcerated at Rikers Island and county correctional facilities. She later began addressing domestic policy in an effort to abolish sex trafficking, primarily focusing on the commercial sexual exploitation of children and young women. [10] [11] She also reached out to women working the streets on Hunts Point in the Bronx. [6] During this time, she observed the need for community services for young women who were either at risk of being sexually exploited or were currently being trafficked. She recognised the severe emotional and practical needs of women and young girls who were being ignored by traditional government-based social service agencies. [12]

After arriving in New York, Lloyd returned to school and began studying in preparation to take her General Educational Development (or GED) test. Passing successfully certified that her academic skills and abilities were equivalent to receiving an American education at the high school level. With this certification, she continued on to college, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Marymount Manhattan College and her Masters in Applied Urban Anthropology from the City College of New York. [5]

Despite some painful memories, Lloyd states that she does not regret her life. "Obviously there have been experiences I would rather not have had and pain I wish I hadn't felt, but every experience, every tear, every hardship has equipped me for the work I do now," she says. "I get such deep satisfaction from knowing I'm fulfilling my purpose, that my life is counting for something; it puts all the past hurts into perspective. My pain has become my passion and I find true joy in my work, in my life, and in seeing 'my girls' fulfill their purpose too." [5]

Advocacy work

In 1998, Lloyd established the Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, [8] [13] [14] which works to support girls and young women who have been victimised by the commercial sex industry in the US. [5] The vision for the organisation was birthed from Lloyd's own experiences of sexual exploitation as a teenager, in addition to her encounters with the ineffective support services of the political and social systems, which had been designed to protect the many victims of violence and abuse. As of 2012, the organisation is one of the largest providers of services to young women and girls, ages 12–24, who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking. The organisation provides direct services for over 1,000 girls and young women each year. [12] As of 2014, Lloyd serves as the chief executive officer of the organisation. [15] [16]

Lloyd was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to supporting victims and survivors of commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking. [17]

Legislative focus

Lloyd works to address legislative shortfalls, which limit the effectiveness of government and community programs and ability of individuals and organisations to reach victims of sex trafficking in cities and states across the US. For example, when young girls under the age of 18 are arrested for prostitution or other illegal activities of a sexual nature, they are often charged and sentenced to probation or time in jail. They enter the criminal justice system with the legal presumption that they are juvenile delinquents. At the same time, the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 , defines human sex trafficking as a commercial sex act induced by force, fraud or coercion, or involving a minor, many states continue to treat victims of child sexual exploitation as criminals. State laws have been enacted that actually support prosecuting sexually exploited youth, rather than offering them protection and assistance as victims of a horrible crime. When Lloyd began working with victims, she discovered that New York, as well as many other states, relied on the enactment of legislation that contradicts the federal statute.

Although comprehensive research to document the number of children engaged in prostitution in the US is lacking, [18] the Department of Justice, estimates about 293,000 American youth are currently "at risk" of becoming victims of commercial sexual exploitation. [19] Sgt. Byron Fassett of the Dallas Police Child Exploitation Squad, [20] points out an obvious irony of this situation. "If a 45-year-old man had sex with a 14-year-old girl and no money changed hands, she was likely to get counseling and he was likely to get jail time for statutory rape. If the same man left $80 on the table after having sex with her, she would probably be locked up for prostitution and he would probably go home with a fine as a john." [21]

Lloyd works to change these misconceptions that view children as criminals, speaking out against these laws and sentences in the United States. She played a key role in lobbying New York State legislators to pass the 2008 Safe Harbor for Exploited Youth Act . The bill recognises these children as victims, rather than criminals, and provides them with necessary social services. "It benefits girls who are not legally old enough to consent to sex, who'd be protected under statutory rape laws if money hadn't changed hands," she says. [22]

In February 2010, Lloyd presented testimony before the United States Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law hearing entitled "In Our Own Backyard: Child Prostitution and Sex Trafficking in the United States". In his opening statements, Senator Dick Durbin, chairman of the subcommittee, recognised Lloyd's leadership in addressing the sexual exploitation of children and advocating for change in the New York State criminal justice system. In referring to the Safe Harbor for Exploited Youth Act, in which Lloyd played an important role, Durbin stated that "Congress should build on New York's fine work and make clear that children who are subjected to sex trafficking should not be treated like criminals." [12]

Public education

Very Young Girls is a 2007 documentary film that presents the work of the Girls Educational and Mentoring Services. Directed by David Schisgall, the film is an exposé of human trafficking that follows 13- and 14-year-old American girls as they are coerced and exploited on New York's streets by pimps; while being treated as adult criminals by police. [23] [24]

The film was an official selection in the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, the 2008 Edinburgh Film Festival, the 2008 Independent Film Festival of Boston, the 2008 True/False Film Festival, the 2008 Miami International Film Festival, the 2008 Jerusalem Film Festival, the 2008 Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival, and the 2008 Indie Spirit Film Festival. The film has been broadcast and distributed by Showtime Networks. [25]

Published works

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sexual slavery</span> Slavery with the intention of using the slaves for sex

Sexual slavery and sexual exploitation is an attachment of any ownership right over one or more people with the intent of coercing or otherwise forcing them to engage in sexual activities. This includes forced labor that results in sexual activity, forced marriage and sex trafficking, such as the sexual trafficking of children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Child prostitution</span> Prostitution involving a child

Child prostitution is prostitution involving a child, and it is a form of commercial sexual exploitation of children. The term normally refers to prostitution of a minor, or person under the legal age of consent. In most jurisdictions, child prostitution is illegal as part of general prohibition on prostitution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commercial sexual exploitation of children</span> Commercial transaction that involves the sexual exploitation of a child

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) defines the “umbrella” of crimes and activities that involve inflicting sexual abuse on to a child as a financial or personal opportunity. Commercial Sexual Exploitation consists of forcing a child into prostitution, sex trafficking, early marriage, child sex tourism and any other venture of exploiting children into sexual activities. According to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the lack of reporting the crime and “the difficulties associated with identifying and measuring victims and perpetrators” has made it almost impossible to create a national estimate of the prevalence of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in the United States. There is an estimated one million children that are exploited for commercial sex globally; of the one million children that are exploited, the majority are girls.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex trafficking</span> Trade of sexual slaves

Sex trafficking is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation. It has been called a form of modern slavery because of the way victims are forced into sexual acts non-consensually, in a form of sexual slavery. Perpetrators of the crime are called sex traffickers or pimps—people who manipulate victims to engage in various forms of commercial sex with paying customers. Sex traffickers use force, fraud, and coercion as they recruit, transport, and provide their victims as prostitutes. Sometimes victims are brought into a situation of dependency on their trafficker(s), financially or emotionally. Every aspect of sex trafficking is considered a crime, from acquisition to transportation and exploitation of victims. This includes any sexual exploitation of adults or minors, including child sex tourism (CST) and domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST).

Forced prostitution, also known as involuntary prostitution or compulsory prostitution, is prostitution or sexual slavery that takes place as a result of coercion by a third party. The terms "forced prostitution" or "enforced prostitution" appear in international and humanitarian conventions, such as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, but have been inconsistently applied. "Forced prostitution" refers to conditions of control over a person who is coerced by another to engage in sexual activity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prajwala</span> Organization against prostitution and sex trafficking.

Prajwala is a non-governmental organization based in Hyderabad, India, devoted exclusively to eradicating prostitution and sex trafficking. Founded in 1996 by Ms. Sunitha Krishnan and Brother Jose Vetticatil, the organization actively works in the areas of prevention, rescue, rehabilitation, re-integration, and advocacy to combat trafficking in every dimension and restore dignity to victims of commercial sexual exploitation.

Prostitution in Colombia is legal, regulated and limited to brothels in designated "tolerance zones". Sex workers are required to have regular health checks. However, the laws are rarely applied and prostitution is widespread, partly due to poverty and internal displacement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking</span> Trade of humans for exploitation

Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation.

Very Young Girls is a 2007 human trafficking documentary and exposé. Airing on Showtime and directed by David Schisgall and Nina Alvarez, the show follows 13- and 14-year-old African-American girls as they are seduced, abused, and sold on New York's streets by pimps, while being treated as adult criminals by police. The film follows the barely adolescent girls in real time, using vérité and intimate interviews with them as they are first lured on to the streets and the dire events which follow. The film also uses startling footage shot by the brazen pimps themselves, giving a rare glimpse into how the cycle of street life begins for many women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in the United States</span>

In the United States, human trafficking tends to occur around international travel hubs with large immigrant populations, notably in California, Texas, and Georgia. Those trafficked include young children, teenagers, men, and women; victims can be domestic citizens or foreign nationals.

Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS) is a non-profit organization that provides services to commercially sexually exploited and domestically trafficked girls and young women, typically underage youth exploited by pimps and traffickers. The organization is based in Harlem, New York City, which is one of the most common places for trafficking and child exploitation. The work of GEMS is the subject of the 2007 documentary Very Young Girls. In 2007, their founder, Rachel Lloyd, wrote her autobiography, entitled Girls Like Us, that presents her personal background and her efforts to establish the GEMS organization.

Afghanistan is one of the source, transit, and destination country for men, women, and children who are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. Trafficking within Afghanistan is more prevalent than transnational trafficking, and the majority of victims are children. In 2005 the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) reported 150 child trafficking cases to other states. Afghan boys and girls are trafficked within the country and into Iran, Pakistan and India as well as Persian gulf Arab states, where they live as slaves and are forced to prostitution and forced labor in brick kilns, carpet-making factories, and domestic service. In some cases the boys and girls were used for organ trafficking. Forced begging is a growing problem in Afghanistan; Mafia groups organize professional begging rings. Afghan boys are subjected to forced prostitution and forced labor in the drug smuggling industry in Pakistan and Iran. Afghan women and girls are subjected to forced prostitution, arranged and forced marriages—including those in which husbands force their wives into prostitution—and involuntary domestic servitude in Pakistan and Iran, and possibly India. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) report that over the past year, increasing numbers of boys were trafficked internally. Some families knowingly sell their children for forced prostitution, including for bacha bazi - a practice combining sexual slavery and child prostitution, through which wealthy men use harems of young boys for social and sexual entertainment. Other families send their children with brokers to gain employment. Many of these children end up in forced labor, particularly in Pakistani carpet factories. NGOs indicate that families sometimes make cost-benefit analyses regarding how much debt they can incur based on their tradable family members.

Sex trafficking in Thailand is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the Kingdom of Thailand. Thailand is a country of origin, destination, and transit for sex trafficking. The sexual exploitation of children in Thailand is a problem. In Thailand, close to 40,000 children under the age of 16 are believed to be in the sex trade, working in clubs, bars, and brothels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in Papua New Guinea</span>

Papua New Guinea is a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced prostitution and forced labor. Women and children are subjected to commercial sexual exploitation and involuntary domestic servitude; trafficked men are forced to provide labor in logging and mining camps. Children, especially young girls from tribal areas, are most vulnerable to being pushed into commercial sexual exploitation or forced labor by members of their immediate family or tribe. Families traditionally sell girls into forced marriages to settle their debts, leaving them vulnerable to involuntary domestic servitude, and tribal leaders trade the exploitative labor and service of girls and women for guns and political advantage. Young girls sold into marriage are often forced into domestic servitude for the husband’s extended family. In more urban areas, some children from poorer families are prostituted by their parents or sold to brothels. Migrant women and teenage girls from Malaysia, Thailand, China, and the Philippines are subjected to forced prostitution, and men from China are transported to the country for forced labor.

Egypt is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children who are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution.

<i>Nefarious: Merchant of Souls</i> 2011 film by Benjamin Nolot

Nefarious: Merchant of Souls is a 2011 American documentary film about modern human trafficking, specifically sexual slavery. Presented from a Christian worldview, Nefarious covers human trafficking in the United States, Western and Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia, alternating interviews with re-enactments. Victims of trafficking talk about having been the objects of physical abuse and attempted murder. Several former prostitutes talk about their conversion to Christianity, escape from sexual oppression, and subsequent education or marriage. The film ends with the assertion that only Jesus can completely heal people from the horrors of sexual slavery.

Prostitution in Benin is legal but related activities such as brothel keeping and benefiting from the prostitution of others are illegal. UNAIDS estimates there to be about 15,000 prostitutes in the country. Most of these are migrants from neighbouring countries, mainly Nigeria, Togo and Ghana. Only 15% of the prostitutes are Beninese. Prostitution occurs on the streets, in bars, restaurants, hotels and brothels. With advent of the smartphone, many prostitutes use apps to make arrangements with clients.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human trafficking in New York</span>

Human trafficking in New York is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, and forced labor. It occurs in the state of New York and is widely recognized as a modern-day form of slavery. It includes, "the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons by means of threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power, or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labor services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex trafficking in the United States</span>

Sex trafficking in the United States is a form of human trafficking which involves reproductive slavery or commercial sexual exploitation as it occurs in the United States. Sex trafficking includes the transportation of persons by means of coercion, deception and/or force into exploitative and slavery-like conditions. It is commonly associated with organized crime.

Sex trafficking in Japan is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the country. Japan is a country of origin, destination, and transit for sexually trafficked persons.

References

  1. ↑ "United Nations Radio: Survivors of trafficking speak out". Unmultimedia.org. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  2. ↑ "Human trafficking victims address UN event as Ban calls for broad-based action". United Nations. 22 October 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  3. ↑ "100 Women Who Shape New York City". Bootlegbetty.com. Archived from the original on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  4. ↑ Sullivan, Katie (4 September 2006). "Notable New Yorkers: Rachel Lloyd". Wcbstv.com. Archived from the original on 1 July 2007. Retrieved 9 October 2010. Rachel Lloyd is this week's notable New Yorker
  5. 1 2 3 4 "2006 RHR Award Recipient- Rachel Lloyd". Reebok.com. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  6. 1 2 "Rachel Lloyd and GEMS Save Young Girls From Prostitution". NY1.com. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  7. ↑ "Survivor saves girls from 'the life'". The Washington Times. 31 December 2002. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  8. 1 2 3 Rachel Lloyd. "Rachel Lloyd, Ashoka Fellow". Denverchangemakers.ashoka.org. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  9. ↑ Richards, Sarah E. (1 December 2003) "Woman Warrior", Marie Claire.
  10. 1 2 Warren, Marcus (27 December 2002). "Ex-prostitute who saves the hookers of Harlem". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  11. ↑ "Scarborough pushes bill to help teen prostitutes". Queenscourier.com. 26 March 2008. Archived from the original on 10 March 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  12. 1 2 3 "Rachel Lloyd Senate Testimony". Judiciary.senate.gov. Archived from the original on 19 July 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  13. ↑ "Rachel Lloyd – Saving girls in New York from 'the life'". Unicef.org. Archived from the original on 14 April 2010. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  14. ↑ "Corporate Entity Information". Appext9.dos.state.ny.us. 4 December 2000. Retrieved 18 July 2010.
  15. ↑ "Our Story — Girls Educational & Mentoring Services (GEMS)". www.gems-girls.org.
  16. ↑ "Voices from the Field: Rachel Lloyd". Archived from the original on 24 November 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  17. ↑ "No. 62866". The London Gazette (Supplement). 28 December 2019. p. N4.
  18. ↑ "Juveniles Prostitution factsheet_3-05-08.doc" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 June 2009. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  19. ↑ "Child Prostitution – Domestic Sex Trafficking of Minors". Justice.gov. 10 July 2003. Archived from the original on 23 July 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  20. ↑ "Byron Fassett – Speaker Bio". Ctcaht.org. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  21. ↑ Urbina, Ian (26 October 2009). "Running in the Shadows: For Runaways, Sex Buys Survival", The New York Times.
  22. ↑ "What America Cares About Guiding Young Girls to Better Lives". Parade.com. 9 May 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
  23. ↑ Buchanan, Jason (4 July 2008). "All Movie Guide: Very Young Girls", The New York Times.
  24. ↑ Catsoulis, Jeannette (4 July 2008). "Movie Review: Very Young Girls – Children Without Childhoods", The New York Times.
  25. ↑ "Showtime Official Site :: Schedules :: Program Details :: Very Young Girls". Sho.com. Archived from the original on 7 May 2010. Retrieved 19 July 2010.
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