Freedom for the Weekend: GEMS

Published July 03, 2009 @ 12:00PM PT

Well, it's Friday afternoon, and that means the weekend is almost here! W00t! Perhaps you're reading this blog because you're bored at work or school and you're thinking about what you want to do this weekend. How about spending part of your weekend fighting slavery? Each week I'll profile a different anti-trafficking nonprofit who you can connect with to help free slaves and prevent slavery around the world. So, spend a couple hours this weekend getting to know this nonprofit through their website, and then get involved!

This Week's Profile: Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS)

The Bottom Line: Girls Educational and Mentoring Services' (GEMS ) mission is to empower young women, ages12-21, who have experienced sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking to exit the commercial sex industry and develop to their full potential. GEMS is committed to ending commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking of children by changing individual lives, transforming public perception, and revolutionizing the systems and policies that impact sexually exploited youth.

What They Do: GEMS provides a plethora of direct services and referrals to trafficked girls. They also provide training and technical assistance to people who work with exploited youth. GEMS has a very effective "Girls Are Not for Sale" campaign.

What Can I Do?: You can purchase items from their GEMS shop, the proceeds of which support their programs. You can also donate online, volunteer, or join their Facebook group.

Why They Rock: I've highlighted their film Very Young Girls as one of the best about human trafficking in the U.S. You can buy a copy here, or get on on Netflix!

So now that you've got some basic information on GEMS, visit their website this weekend and get involved. And on Monday morning when everyone else is talking about sleeping in and watching tv over the weekend, you can say, "What did I do this weekend? Oh, just the usual- abolition of slavery."

Do you have a favorite nonprofit you'd like to see featured here? If so, let me know!

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Author

Amanda has been a full-time abolitionist for six years. During that time, she has created reports, documentaries and training materials on human trafficking in the United States and around the world.