10/11/2023 0 Comments Gems nyc prostitution![]() “And he was like, ‘You have to go because this is what they mandated and you don’t wanna go to jail.’”Īlexandra says her plan for GEMS “was just to be quiet and not talk to nobody.” ![]() “I was telling the pimp I was with, ‘I don’t wanna go, I don’t wanna go,’” she tells Gothamist. The first of the five times Alexandra (a pseudonym) was arrested for prostitution and brought to the Queens Human Trafficking Intervention Court, she was 17 and had zero interest in counseling. The NYPD, for instance, refuses to distinguish between “trafficking” and “sex work” and has unilaterally framed shutting down massage parlors that sell sex as a bid to rescue trafficking victims. A minority of those surveyed-about 35 percent-reported having been trafficked into sex work at some point, with 20 percent indicating that they were currently being trafficked.Īdmittedly, the term “human trafficking” has become overused and politicized. citizens, a sizeable cohort (29 percent) had arrived from Asia speaking Mandarin or Korean. Almost all were women of color and, although the majority were U.S. In a survey of about 1,400 Legal Aid Society clients charged with prostitution-related offenses between 20, 78 percent indicated a desire for at least one type of assistance, most commonly citing a need for employment, housing, education, and health care, in that order. And many people involved in the sex trades in New York have pressing needs. Even those who don’t experience such extreme consequences as being assaulted by a police officer, getting picked up by ICE in court, or landing in jail for not complying with a diversion program can still be traumatized by the process of going through the criminal justice system, according to service providers and those who have gone through the system themselves.īut just because fewer people are being arrested for prostitution and showing up in court-a phenomenon that has coincided with the NYPD’s declaration that it will focus more on arresting “pimps and Johns”-doesn’t necessarily mean fewer people are selling sex. There are serious potential harms associated with being policed, arrested, and going to court-even diversion court-and many who are arrested don’t actually want the services they’re offered. ![]() This dropoff could be considered a good thing. But, she added, “I also have seen incredible success through our program.” in 1997 after leaving the sex industry in Germany. “Morally and philosophically, I don’t want to see girls and young women arrested,” says Lloyd, who moved to the U.S. In 2015, 139 people arrived at GEMS through these courts, accounting for about a third of the organization’s clients by 2018, that figure had fallen to just 41. (Under the federal definition, “human trafficking” refers to people who are engaging in labor as a result of force, fraud, or coercion.) These courts typically order those arrested to get counseling in exchange for having their cases dismissed, creating a potential entry point for other services. Lloyd is talking about the recent drop she’s seen in the number of clients arriving at GEMS through the city’s Human Trafficking Intervention Courts-which, contrary to their name, are the destination for everyone arrested on prostitution-related charges, whether or not they have been trafficked. “Knowing that whole population is out there and that now we aren’t coming into contact with a lot of them is really sad to me,” Lloyd laments. The Harlem-based nonprofit helps 12- to 24-year-olds who have been trafficked or are otherwise involved in selling sex to advance their education, access transitional housing, get counseling, and, in some cases, leave what Lloyd refers to as “the life.” “They just look like our girls, but they’re not,” says Lloyd, founder and president of Girls Educational & Mentoring Services (GEMS). Scrolling through social media, Rachel Lloyd often sees young people who look familiar to her.
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