July 2024
A Poetry Program for Victims of
Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking
My poetry program for victims of commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking is available to you by clicking on the prompt at the end of this brief introduction.
This program uses poems written by well-known poets and poems written by survivors of commercial sexual exploitation/trafficking to encourage victims to process and talk about what happened to them and how they are feeling and dealing, or not dealing, with that experience. It is designed to be a therapeutic exercise in moving from fear, denial, humiliation, silence, isolation, anger and/or self-blame to self-respect, self-expression, sharing and the possibility of love. Along the way, one or more of the poets whose poems are read may become a model for self-renewal.
In each of the six sessions of this program, a group of victims, led by one or two facilitators, listens to and discusses two poems — in most cases, one poem by a well-known poet and another by a survivor — that speak to relevant feelings and issues.
I got the idea for this poetry program from survivors of commercial exploitation/trafficking themselves. I think it would be helpful to explain how that happened, and I want to acknowledge the help I received from the GEMS and JCCA organizations.
GEMS, if you have not heard of it, is an acronym for Girls Educational and Mentoring Services. GEMS was the first organization in New York State whose mission it is to serve girls and young women who have been the victims of commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking. GEMS attempts to help those people, ages 12-24, exit the commercial sex industry and develop their full potential. As its literature puts it: “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.”
I first learned of GEMS in the mid-2010’s when I attended a GEMS event and heard its founder, Rachel Lloyd, speak. I then read Ms. Lloyd’s book, “Girls Like Us: A Memoir.” In it, she tells the harrowing and inspiring story of her own exploitation and trafficking in her teenage years and of her escape and founding of GEMS.
I also read GEMS’ “Survivor’s Guide to Leaving.” GEMS gives that guide to girls/young women when they first come in contact with GEMS, either when they are still in The Life, i.e., still working for their pimps and under their control, or having just left, or been left, without a lifeline.
The Survivor’s Guide, and some other GEMS material that I read, contained a number of poems. Not poems by famous poets. Rather, poems written by survivors. Poems that speak to what it feels like even to contemplate breaking away from a pimp or other sexual abuser. Poems that speak to what it feels like to try to leave The Life. Poems about what it feels like to be this kind of victim. Poems about trying to become a survivor. Heartfelt poems.
The fact that GEMS’ materials contained poetry written by survivors of commercial sexual exploitation/trafficking gave me the idea for this new poetry program: Survivors were expressing themselves in poems. And GEMS was using those poems to communicate with other victims.
Those poems made me think that such victims might naturally look to and use poetry to express and share feelings that were very difficult for them to express and discuss outside of poetry.
In thinking about that, it also dawned on me that victims of commercial sexual exploitation/trafficking have been victimized by a huge amount of profoundly dishonest speech. Perhaps one of the things they are starving for is honest, heartfelt speech. And so they reach for, and are open to, poetry. As a wise man wrote in 2005 about poetry:
People complain about the obscurity of poetry, especially if they’re assigned to write about it, but actually poetry is rather straightforward compared to ordinary conversation…. How often in the past week did anyone offer you something from the heart? It’s there in poetry.
Forget everything you ever read about poetry. It doesn’t matter – poetry is the last preserve [in our society] of honest speech and the outspoken heart.
And then I remembered that the great poet Maya Angelou was a survivor of commercial sexual exploitation, as she wrote about in one of her autobiographical books. And Mary Oliver, another wonderful modern American poet, was a victim of sexual abuse as a child and evidently left home because of that.
I had used poems by Maya Angelou and Mary Oliver in my poetry work with mentally and physically disabled nursing home residents, and now it occurred to me that certain of their poems could help GEMS members on some level different from the GEMS counseling they already were receiving.
Not knowing whether my idea about helping GEMS members through a poetry program made sense, I brought the idea to Ms. Lloyd’s attention. She encouraged me and asked that I submit a written proposal.
Months later, I submitted that written proposal. However, Ms. Lloyd fell ill and had to take a lengthy leave of absence.
I subsequently learned that JCCA (formerly known as the Jewish Child Care Association) runs a program for commercially and sexually exploited/ trafficked girls at JCCA’s Westchester campus in Pleasantville, New York. That program sounded much like the work GEMS was doing, although on a smaller scale and only with younger victims.
I approached JCCA with my idea, and they were enthusiastic. Over the next months, I worked with JCCA staff at the Pleasantville campus, and with their valuable input I revised the proposed program I had submitted to Ms. Lloyd.
As revised for JCCA, the poetry program consists of sessions of 60 to 75 minutes each. Each session focuses on two poems that complement each other in terms of subject matter. In most of the sessions, one of the two poems was written by a prominent poet, and the other poem was written by a survivor of commercial sexual exploitation/trafficking. I would recite the poem by the prominent poet, and one of the girls in JCCA’s group, who was chosen in advance by JCCA staff to partner with me, would recite the other poem. The JCCA staff member in charge of the program for commercially and sexually exploited/trafficked victims and I would lead the discussion after each poem was read.
Just before we were scheduled to begin the program at JCCA, the girl who was selected to partner with me became unavailable, causing delay.
And then Covid arrived, and everything stopped.
Now, at the age of 77, I am retired.
Over the last nine months or so, I returned to my materials about this poetry program for victims of commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking. I honed the program and added supplemental materials.
And I have decided to make this poetry program readily available to anyone who might want to implement it or otherwise use my program materials.
The program materials consist of the proposed content for each of the six group sessions, including the poems themselves, relevant commentary about each of the well-known poets, relevant commentary and discussion questions about each of the poems, together with PowerPoint images (some in video format) to accompany each of the poems. Plus the supplemental materials mentioned above.
All those materials are available on the link below, except for the PowerPoint images. I don’t have the computer competence or resources to post those images on this website.
The materials embodying the program sessions could be modified in many ways. For example, the questions and commentary on the poems contained in the program materials are only suggestions and could be changed in any number of ways.
Please feel free to use these program materials as you see fit. Should you decide to use them, I would appreciate your telling me how you use them. If you want the PowerPoint images, let me know, and I will figure out how best to get them to you.
And if you can think of other people or organizations that might benefit from these program materials, please make them aware of this poetry program.
Be well.
Marvin Wexler
(914- 632-8110)