Girls Like Us: Fighting For a World Where Girls Are Not For Sale

In Germany during the winter of 1995, Lloyd starts her life again. She begins attending a nondenominational church on an American airbase where she lives as a nanny. She is surprised by the lack of violence between Sonia and David, the couple she nannies for. Sonia and David take Lloyd under their wing and treat her as part of their family. Through their love, Lloyd realizes the extent to which she has accepted gender-based violence. Lloyd notices the same tendency in a GEMS client named Tyria, who suggests to Lloyd that the GEMS staff use corporal punishment on Tyria so she will learn better.

During Christmastime in 2008, Lloyd is invited to the White House to attend a ceremonial signing of trafficking legislation. Though at first she is elated, her bubble is soon burst by an inappropriate comment from Jeffrey Winter, a Republican lobbyist: “Long way from the street, eh?” he whispers to Lloyd as they pose for a photograph (254). Lloyd is horrified by this humiliating comment. She realizes that despite all her accomplishments, many people still see her only for her past. Lloyd begins to realize that words matter and starts to use the phrase “commercially sexually exploited child/youth” instead of the derogatory terms commonly used by the public and even the press (258), including “prostitute,” “dancer,” and “hostess.