Girls Like Us: Fighting for a World Where Girls are Not for Sale
Rachel Lloyd grew up in a troubled home in England , and found herself caught in the commercial sex industry in Germany by the age of 16. Having experienced and escaped the emotional and physical abuse that accompanies the underage sex trade, Lloyd started a group for mentoring girls in New York City who were also victims of the lifestyle.
This book brought up a lot of issues I had never considered: why are young women who are being used by pimps to make money considered to be criminals, instead of the victims that they are? Why are pimps glorified in movies like Hustle and Flow or by figures like Ice T, when the reality is that they are violent, abusive, exploitative criminals? Why are cases in which young, middle- to upper-class white girls are kidnapped or murdered given more news attention than when the same thing happens to a girl of color? There aren’t really any answers provided here, and some of the stories of abuse are quite sickening. But it inspires hope that there is at least one person out there who cares about these young women and is dedicating her life to giving them hope. And if she was able to succeed, then maybe they can, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment