Girls Are Not for Sale campaign

http://www.feministing.com/archives/016557.html

Strides in the Fight Against Sexual Exploitation of Girls

I've written about GEMS (Girls Educational and Mentoring Services) before. Basically, I think they are the s***. In more official terms, they are "the nation's largest survivor-led organization serving American girls and young women who have experienced sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation." You may remember the amazing documentary on their work called Very Young Girls, which is now available via Netflix.

Well GEMS is at it again. This time they're joining forces with Beyoncé Knowles, Halle Berry, Demi Moore, Sinead O'Connor, Mary J Blige, Katie Ford and women across America for their Girls Are Not for Sale campaign. According to GEMS:

The campaign will use e-activism, live events, all-star artist collaborations and other initiatives to promote girls empowerment and education as critical tools in the fight against child traffickers and pimps who victimize between 100,000 and 300,000 American children and teens each year.

After seeing the film, Beyonce said, "I don't know how anyone could see that documentary and not want to help those young women. I didn't want to just donate money, I wanted them to know that someone really cared about them. My time, my heart, my ears, and my voice are the biggest gifts I could think to give." She hung out with the girls featured in the film and others who are now working with GEMS, and reflected: "I wanted to listen to every girl's story and the stories were all so different. I watched them dance. I heard them sing. I asked lots of questions. They were so open and so brave."

You go Ms. Fierce. Want to get involved? Join the Council of Daughters:

GEMS hopes many more women will join Knowles and other artists in spreading the girls' message. The organization has launched a national social network, The Council of Daughters, to empower women and girls to bring the needs of young survivors into local communities. Through its online hub - http://www.councilofdaughters.ning.com - Council members can meet, share news and ideas, plan campaign events, raise funds and introduce the needs of girls to their friends through a variety of social media tools. Council members across the country, in conjunction with Netflix, the world's largest online movie rental service, will host National Viewing Nights to celebrate the online and DVD premiere of 'Very Young Girls'.

We'd love to hear about your viewing night experience on our community site, so get registered, get watching, get reflecting, and make the world a better place for this country's most vulnerable girls.