Day 2

Today we were given a presentation by Tyra, an anti-trafficking activist and spokesperson for FAIR Girls. FAIR Girls is an organization based out of D.C. that provides comprehensive services for girls from 11 to 21 years old that have been the victims of human trafficking. FAIR Girls has case managers, social workers, and court advocates who assist the survivors that they work with. They have many programs from crisis intervention and housing, to education and prevention. Tyra gave us the “Tell Your Friends” presentation, which is meant to introduce youth to the topic of sex trafficking and considers vulnerabilities to exploitation and pop culture. Tyra gave us a good overview of the two different kinds of human trafficking: labor and sex. Most of our discussion was focused on sex trafficking.

One of the most interesting parts about our conversation with Tyra was talking about how pop culture, particularly music, perpetuates the idea of pimping and prostitution. We read the song lyrics to “PIMP” by 50 Cent. The song very clearly and explicitly describes recruiting, grooming, and selling girls from the perspective of a pimp. It was shocking to me because the song was portraying being a pimp as a cool and positive thing. It is appalling to me that society accepts these kinds of false messages, yet people do not know that many and boys are actually forced to sell sex in this country.

Tyra also showed us a video called The Making of a Girl. In the video Rachel Lloyd, the founder of a survivor services organization in New York called GEMS, talks about the life of a girl who is coerced into commercial sexual exploitation. It was interesting to think about the cycle of how a girl becomes a victim. The story that she explained started with a girl who was sexually abused when she was younger and who came from an impoverished background. Later, when the girl is coerced into having sex for money she is more easily manipulated by the pimp because she is used to the abuse because she had been raped in the past. When we think about “prostitutes” we need to consider that many of these girls come from troubled backgrounds. We should not judge women that we see on the streets and assume that they are “working” of their own free will.