GEMS Youth leadership program provides educational and employment opportunities to commercially sexually exploited girls so they can achieve economic self-sufficiency.

Why we care: The commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking of youth is frequently and incorrectly perceived as a problem that does not exist in the United States. 

How we’re solving this: GEMS’ Youth Leadership program empowers girls and young women to become leaders in their lives and communities, helping members develop their public speaking and community-organizing skills through outreach, events, advocacy, and media work.

“Being a fellow has truly changed the way I see myself and the world. Recently I met someone who asked me, what is my goal when I speak to an audience? My response was to remove the stigma associated with the commercial sex industry. For if I succeed in removing the stigma then I have a chance at changing someone’s life. That person may be the one in the room who felt alone or may be someone that I now have an opportunity to shape the way they speak on the topic in the future. If I have succeeded in removing that stigma then I am making a difference in some way, shape or form. For me that is the most precious gift that having this fellowship has given me.”– GEMS Youth Fellowship participant  

Youth Leadership utilizes a survivor-created curriculum and educates young women on cultural perceptions that promote the issues of commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking so they can more effectively shift these perceptions. 

GEMS’ future Youth Outreach Workers identify and connect with commercially sexually exploited victims in facilities throughout the New York City area, drawing from their personal experiences to connect with survivors , and mentor girls and young women who are at risk of commercial sexual exploitation. 

Graduates of Youth Leadership are eligible to participate in GEMS’ Youth Fellowship program, which helps members develop and build the hard and soft skills necessary to achieve their long-term goals and become self-sufficient adults. The program provides paid internships for girls and young women within the agency’s various departments, gaining valuable and transferable work skills in a supportive and welcoming environment. 

GEMS’ Fellowship program supports the agency’s overarching mission to build safer, more productive communities and families while offering young survivors a space both to heal, grow, and reach their full potential. In their formal positions with the agency, Fellows also gain greater economic stability as they lead the fight to end the commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking of youth.  

Youth Leadership, Youth Outreach, and Youth Fellowship support nearly 25 members a year, encouraging more girls and young women to become future leaders in the fight to end commercial sexual exploitation and providing them with job-readiness opportunities. GEMS needs additional financial support to enhance the programs, ensuring that all girls and young women who come to the agency have the resources and opportunity to succeed.

GEMS believes that, with the right opportunities within reach, CSE girls and young women can overcome the complex web of contributing factors that perpetuate commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking, including racism, poverty, gender-based violence, and the criminalization of youth. Through the individual success of GEMS’ members and their mentoring roles at the agency, families break cycles of abuse; educated and empowered youth are armed with the tools necessary to ascend from poverty, creating, in turn, more equitable and just communities.