Rachel Lloyd

Rachel Elizabeth Lloyd (born 1975) is a British anti-trafficking advocate, author and the founder of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services. She is known for her work on the issue of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking and has been a leader in helping shift the perception of trafficked girls from criminals to victims, survivors, and leaders. She immigrated to the US in 1997 and began working to end domestic sex trafficking, primarily focusing on addressing the commercial sexual exploitation of children and young women. In 1998, she established Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, which is based in Harlem, New York.

In March 1998, Lloyd attended the first International Summit of Sexually Exploited Youth, presented by the International Centre to Combat Exploitation of Children, held in Victoria, British Columbia. During the summit, she assisted in drafting a declaration and call to action by governments throughout the world. On 22 October 2009, she presented the declaration at the United Nations, following which, it was ratified by 120 countries.

In 2004, Lloyd was named one of the "100 Women Who Shape New York" by the New York Daily News. On 4 September 2006, she was recognised as a "Notable New Yorker" by WCBS-TV. Later that same year, she was also honoured with the Reebok Human Rights Award. In 2008, she was the recipient of the Social Entrepreneurship Award from the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, and two years later she was named to an Ashoka Fellowship and a Prime Mover Fellowship. On 12 May 2010, she was named "New Yorker of the Week" by NY1.

Early life

Rachel Lloyd was born in 1975, in Stalbridge, Dorset, England, where she was raised by her mother and stepfather. She attended private school on a scholarship to Portsmouth High School for Girls. While attending Portsmouth, she was on the receiving end of racial prejudice and taunting, expressed by both the school administration and members of her peer group. In response to the treatment she received at school and home, Lloyd left school at the age of 13.

In an interview published in Marie Claire magazine, Lloyd stated: "I was 17 when I turned my first trick, compared with the 12-year-olds I meet today." When she was 17 years old, she moved to Germany. In 1994, Lloyd started on the road to recovery with the help of a military family and a church on a United States Air Force base in Germany.

Life in New York

In 1997, Lloyd immigrated to the US to begin working with incarcerated adult women. She began working with adult women who were coming out of prostitution, as well as women incarcerated at Rikers Island and county correctional facilities. She later began addressing domestic policy in an effort to abolish sex trafficking, primarily focusing on the commercial sexual exploitation of children and young women. She also reached out to women working the streets of Hunts Point in the Bronx. During this time, she observed the need for community services for young women who were either at risk of being sexually exploited or were currently being trafficked. She recognised the severe emotional and practical needs of women and young girls who were being ignored by traditional government-based social service agencies.

After arriving in New York, Lloyd returned to school and began studying in preparation to take her General Educational Development test. With this certification, she continued on to college, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from Marymount Manhattan College and her Master of Arts degree in applied urban anthropology from the City College of New York.

Advocacy work

In 1998, Lloyd established the Girls Educational and Mentoring Services, which works to support girls and young women who have experienced the commercial sex industry in the US. The vision for the organisation was birthed from Lloyd's own experiences of sexual exploitation as a teenager, in addition to her encounters with the ineffective support services of the political and social systems which had been designed to protect the victims of violence and abuse. As of 2012, the organisation is one of the largest providers of services to young women and girls, ages 12–24, who have experienced commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking. The organisation provides direct services for over 1,000 girls and young women each year. As of 2014, Lloyd serves as the chief executive officer of the organisation.

Lloyd was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to supporting victims and survivors of commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking.

Legislative focus

Lloyd works to address legislative shortfalls which limit the effectiveness of government and community programs and ability of individuals and organisations to reach victims of sex trafficking in cities and states across the US. For example, although the federal Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, defines human sex trafficking as a commercial sex act induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or involving a minor, many states continue to treat victims of child sexual exploitation as criminals. When Lloyd began working with victims, she discovered that New York, as well as many other states, relied on the enactment of legislation that contradicts the federal statute.

Lloyd works to change these misconceptions that view children as criminals. She played a key role in lobbying New York State legislators to pass the 2008 Safe Harbor for Exploited Youth Act. The bill recognises these children as victims, rather than criminals, and provides them with necessary social services. "It benefits girls who are not legally old enough to consent to sex, who'd be protected under statutory rape laws if money hadn't changed hands," she says.