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

Lloyd illustrates how the lack of support systems that children who have been sexually exploited face leads to a strong distrust of institutions. The foster agency in the book’s Prologue is ill-equipped to handle crises of sexual exploitation. The New York State Senate refuses to pass legislation that protects the girls. The teachers at Rikers Detention Center are dismissive and offensive about the issues that girls who have been sexually exploited must contend with, even to Lloyd. In Chapter 3, the reader learns about how law enforcement, both domestically and abroad, dismisses cases of gender violence, causing victims to turn away from law enforcement for protection. Lloyd retells her experience being kidnapped in Germany by an abusive boyfriend, who takes her to a rural area, beats her, and abandons her. When Lloyd finally gets to a police station, the male policeman is dismissive of her claims that her ex-boyfriend has kidnapped, hit, and robbed her. When Mike, the ex-boyfriend, arrives at the station, he claims that the 3,000 marks he stole from Lloyd are his, and he is released. After learning that Lloyd works at a strip club, the policeman dismisses her claims and suggests that she get a ride home with Mike.