On 01.02.02, I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Too late for surgery, I had chemotherapy, which failed. In May the chemotherapy was changed and I was soon in remission which was celebrated and welcome and lasted nine years - until October 2011. There was progression in 2011 so more treatment was indicated and I am now back in partial remission. But I'm not only a cancer patient - I also enjoy my family, walk my dogs and am learning to draw and paint. Life is good!

Friday, August 19, 2011

Please read


Girls Like Us: Fighting for a World Where Girls Are Not for Sale, an Activist Finds Her Calling and Heals HerselfGirls Like Us: Fighting for a World Where Girls Are Not for Sale, an Activist Finds Her Calling and Heals Herself by Rachel Lloyd
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It broke my heart to read this book, but I consider it the most important book I've read so far this year.  The girls are commercially sexually exploited children and teenagers in the United States.  They are trafficked for drugs and other commodities for their pimps.  They are physically abused - tied up, poorly nourished, forced users of drugs and alcohol and sold to men.  The author was herself such a victim and she traces her growth to survivor and leader as she works with the girls in the agency she established in New York City, Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS).  The girls successfully challenged and changed the state law of New York to decriminalize the girls and provide healing services to them instead.  New York was the first state to make this change, but hopefully others will follow.


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2 comments:

  1. My step-sister, Janice Erlbaum, does volunteer work for GEMS. You might want to check out her blog occasionally because she updates about the work she does every now and again.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I would love to - is there an address that you can send to me? - Barbara

    ReplyDelete

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