Many black women and girls feel that their voices are not heard and their opinions are not valued. When a young girl feels invalidated they are likely to develop pervasive feelings of insecurity and later difficulties in healthy emotional expression. In both children and adults, invalidation can be traumatic. It jeopardizes one's sense of existence and self-worth, leading to feelings of anger, shame, guilt, and worthlessness. The average age for victims entering the human trafficking lifestyle is 14-16 years old.  Each year, there are 30,000 to 40,000 children at risk for trafficking recruitment. Some common places for recruitment are schools, bus stations, homeless shelters, malls and on the Internet.  Traffickers, pimps and perpetrators prey on the vulnerabilities of people. They are masters at reading people and their behaviors.  At-risk youth are vulnerable to being trafficked. Traffickers often target individuals that feel unloved or feel uncared for, and then traffickers manipulate these children by meeting their needs – by providing shelter, food, love or attention.  


HOW DO MINORS BECOME VICTIMS OF TRAFFICKING? 

• Running away and/or living on the streets and are forced to exchange sex for survival
• Recruitment by “Romeo/boyfriend” pimps who convince them that they love and care for them 
• Kidnapped by “gorilla” pimp and forced into the life • Gang related prostitution 
•  A parent or family member pimps/trafficks their child for drugs or money 

Our program offers mentoring, self-esteem building, wellness, financial literacy and wrap around services.


The Dock Ellis Foundations, Brown is beautiful program goal is to empower Black girls in Las Vegas Nevada and surrounding areas to prevent the risk of exploitation and  foster safe homes and neighborhoods 


The goal of the program is to match the teens with a long-term, positive role model, make referrals to community-based services, and provide opportunities to continue education or career exploration. By creating access to relevant skills, experiences, and support, we can ensure young black girls not only see themselves as validates, but have a clear path and the resources to become productive women.  


Children and teens with mentors benefit in many ways. A youth with a mentor is less likely to:

• Use drugs or alcohol
• Develop problem behaviors
• Skip school
• Have symptoms of depression

And is more likely to:

• Be confident
• Go to college
• Participate in sports or extracurricular activities
• Communicate positively with their parent