For Runaways, Sex Buys Survival
Running in the Shadows
ATLANTA - November 10, 2009 - She ran away from her group home in Medford, Ore., and spent weeks sleeping in parks and under bridges. Finally, Nicole Clark, 14 years old, grew so desperate that she accepted a young man’s offer of a place to stay. The price would come later.
They had sex, and he soon became her boyfriend. Then one day he threatened to kick her out if she did not have sex with several of his friends in exchange for money.
She agreed, fearing she had no choice. “Where was I going to go?” said Nicole, now 17 and living here, just down the Interstate from Medford. That first exchange of money for sex led to a downward spiral of prostitution that lasted for 14 months, until she escaped last year from a pimp who she said often locked her in his garage apartment for months.
“I didn’t know the town, and the police would just send me back to the group home,” Nicole said, explaining why she did not cut off the relationship once her first boyfriend became a pimp and why she did not flee prostitution when she had the chance. “I’d also fallen for the guy. I felt trapped in a way I can’t really explain.”
About Street GRACE
Street GRACE is a non-denominational alliance of churches dedicated to the eradication of the sexual exploitation of children in Atlanta and duplication of these efforts in other cities. It is estimated that 200-300 girls will be raped for profit in metro Atlanta this month.
For more information on how you can become involved in eradicating child sex slavery from Georgia, visit streetgrace.org or call (678) 990-9513.
