Services for Girls who have been Sexually Exploited

Germaine Lawrence offers New England's most comprehensive continuum of care for commercially sexually exploited girls, ages 12-18.

Our clinically intensive programs for sexually exploited girls include a highly structured residential program, short term assessment and stabilization program, an intensive group home on campus, and our ACT group home, located in the community, which exclusively serves girls who have been commercially sexually exploited.

We apply the Stages of Change protocols developed by GEMS in New York to define the level of service delivery that is appropriate for each girl and addresses her safety and treatment needs.

Girls who have been sexually exploited are victimized by their pimp and often experience severe trauma in the form of sexual, physical, mental and verbal abuse. We understand the different levels of trauma experienced by these girls and assist girls in recognizing their trauma, rebuilding their self esteem, and connecting to healthy and accessible resources in the community.

Specialized Services Led by Survivors of Sexual Exploitation

Survivors of sexual exploitation are uniquely positioned to help girls engage in treatment, receive the support that they need and help them leave the people and conditions of their exploitation.

At Germaine Lawrence, survivors lead therapeutic groups and mentor girls individually. We offer the My Life My Choice (MLMC) group, a 10 week psycho-educational group that is designed to decrease the incidence and severity of girls being victimized within the commercial sex industry. To this end, MLMC provides a continuum of prevention, victim identification, and intervention services. MLMC offers provider training, prevention groups, case coordination, and survivor mentoring to victims of exploitation.

We offer in-depth training to ensure that our staff understand sexual exploitation and the resulting trauma. To connect us to other professionals working with this issue, we also participate in the Suffolk County Support to End Exploitation Now Coalition, SEEN, which works to identify girls at risk and ensure a comprehensive and systematic response.

For more information about our services for girls who have been commercially sexually exploited, contact Kristin Vander Els, 781-859-1227.