Thousands of people have been trained through our 3-day intensive curriculum and have, in turn, gone on to train thousands more. Components of GEMS’ training materials are in use all over the country and have been included in state and national publications. 

Since 1998, GEMS has been providing trainings for youth-serving professionals and law enforcement. 20 years of training expertise has uniquely positioned GEMS to lead the field in innovative and immersive survivor created training experiences on the issue of commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking. Our experience has also allowed us to create best practice programming to serve at risk youth, victims and survivors. 

In 2007, funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, GEMS created the first national training curriculum on the commercial sexual exploitation and domestic trafficking of children and youth. Like all GEMS curriculums, it was survivor created and the intensive 3-day Train the Trainer curriculum was designed to spread awareness as widely as possible. Domestic trafficking at that time was still an issue that few people had heard of and even fewer had skills to identify and support victims and survivors.   

CSEC 101:

Understanding and Identifying Commercial Sexual Exploitation
and Trafficking

In the years since, GEMS has updated its training programs to reflect a new level of resources and knowledge in the field and to meet the needs of participants working with victims and survivors. The training, now called “Understanding and Identifying Commercial Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking,” can be customized to address specific areas of focus or skill sets, including:

•Understanding and Addressing Demand •Understanding Trauma Bonds
•Long Term Prevention Efforts •Developing a Strengths-Based Program
•Motivational Interviewing with Survivors

In-person training is one of the best ways to update your staff on CSEC. Our training is also offered virtually. To request a training, presentation, or workshop, don't hesitate to get in touch with our Training Department at training@gems-girls.org

2024 Training Dates

Contact us about our new 4-PART CSEC 101 Lite Virtual Training

About this training:

Abbreviated from a two-day intensive, this training is designed for busy learners. It provides condensed training across four weeks from our four GEMS CSEC 101 training modules. Professional individuals, especially direct service providers, clinicians, and administrators, seeking baseline knowledge about the commercial sexual exploitation of children can contact our information line at Training@gems-girls.org to learn more.

GEMS training utilizes the best practices in adult learning, including interactive training, multi-media curricula, and practical, applicable-based content and skills training. Training pieces also tap into GEMS’ knowledge base on social justice issues and frame our teaching and engagement through the lens of social justice and intersectionality.

VSL : Victim, Survivor, Leader™

GEMS offers two- to three-day Victim, Survivor, Leader™ (VSL) training for a comprehensive look inside the award-winning GEMS VSL program model, with its two foundational principles, Survivor Leadership and Transformational Relationships, and six key core values. The VSL trainings take participants through the key factors and approaches that make up successful GEMS programming and teach them how to utilize this model in their organizations and work. 

GEMS training utilizes the best practices in adult learning, including interactive training, multi-media curricula, and practical, applicable-based content and skills training. Pieces of training also tap into GEMS’ knowledge base on social justice issues and frame all of our teaching and engagement through the lens of both social justice and intersectionality.

Contact Training@gems-girls.org for more information on its VLS Training.

Survivor’s Guide to Leaving

We also offer a two-day “Survivor’s Guide to Leaving” training for organizations and practitioners looking to help victims and survivors. It implements the practice-based evidence VSL model that GEMS has pioneered, focusing on the first challenging year in a survivor’s journey and how to best serve as an ally and support. Contact Training@gems-girls.org for more information.

About the Founder

Rachel, CMG is an advocate for sexually exploited girls and young women through her tireless dedication to the community she serves. She is also deeply passionate about changing public perception and policy. Her advocacy ensured the passage of New York State’s Safe Harbor for Sexually Exploited Children Act, which in 2008 became the first law in the nation to protect —rather than punish—trafficked and exploited youth. Since then, 28 other states have followed suit. 

She co-produced the Showtime documentary Very Young Girls, which has been seen by over millions and sparked a national dialogue on the issue. Rachel is also the author of the acclaimed Girls Like Us, and has used her voice to advocate for survivors at the White House, the United Nations, and before Congress.

GEMS has trained hundreds of organizations and institutions

Organizations Trained by GEMS include