Women's Issues and Stopping Sexual Exploitation of Girls
Written by Jan Jaben-Eilon Friday, April 15 2011
Snapshot: Cheryl DeLuca-Johnson
Cheryl DeLuca-Johnson is executive director of Street GRACE, an alliance of churches dedicated to the eradication of the commercial sexual exploitation of children in Atlanta. In that position, she is involved in building community awareness, mobilizing churches to the cause, and supporting those nonprofit organizations giving direct aid to victimized and at-risk children. DeLuca-Johnson is a licensed professional counselor with a background specializing in women’s issues, specifically women and addiction.
Prior to her work at Street GRACE, she held several positions at Metro Atlanta Recovery Residences and was instrumental in the changes that renovated that organization’s women’s program. She has also served on drug and alcohol advisory boards, worked with World Hope International on women’s issues in Sri Lanka, and volunteered therapeutic services with Red Cross.
She has been married for 28 years to Ernie Johnson and they have six children including her two youngest adopted from foster care. The family lives in North Georgia.
Womenetics: Why did this program start in Atlanta?
Cheryl DeLuca-Johnson: In 2000, Fulton County Chief Juvenile Court Judge Nina Hickson was so upset after presiding over the 1,000th case of child prostitution she wrote an article in the Atlanta newspaper calling it an epidemic of tragic proportions. This caught the attention of then-Mayor Shirley Franklin who commissioned a study that was completed in 2005. The study, “Hidden in Plain View: 2005 Mayor’s Report,” identified several areas of town where these young girls congregated, one of which was the corner of Peachtree Street and North Avenue which is across from the North Avenue Presbyterian Church. Scott Weimer, senior pastor, read the article and was stunned to learn this was going on at his corner. He wondered how he could discuss this with his congregation. After all, it meant talking about sex with children. But he was astounded by the response. The congregants wanted to know what they should do. They invited the mayor and others to a meeting. And at the same time an organization called Unite! was asking churches to go into the community and serve. The question was, “How do we appropriately get involved?”
We decided to look at this strategically. A business plan was commissioned, and we found that several groups were working on this issue but their efforts weren’t coordinated. We learned that the risk factors for young girls were a lack of education and a lack of parental supervision. Street GRACE collaborates with a number of groups and coordinates the volunteer efforts. We provide church liaison training, we have a speakers’ bureau, and we explain how to get involved. We have 54 church partners and 51 community partners.
Womenetics: I understand that very young girls are at risk of exploitation. What ages and why so young? Where are these girls from?
DeLuca-Johnson: The average age is 12 to 14, although some girls are younger, and they come from every background, culture, and ethnicity. Most are local children, and, in contrast to what some people believe, they are not all immigrant children. Statistics show that one-third of all runaways will be involved in the sex industry within 48 hours. They are hungry and don’t have a place to stay and someone offers it. To say a 13-year-old is insecure is redundant, and predators know that.
Womenetics: Who are these men who buy young girls for sex?
DeLuca-Johnson: I’m all for fining the exploiters, but as long as there’s a demand, this will continue to occur. A study of the demand showed that more than 7,000 men in Georgia will purchase a child every month. Most men come from north of the Perimeter Highway or south of the Perimeter, from the suburbs. People assumed it was from the inner city but it’s not. It’s your neighbor or church member; it’s likely you know someone who has done this. There’s the idea that the girls are choosing to do this, and, in the strictest sense, it is a choice. But it’s like a person who jumps out of the sixth floor window of a building, but the information we don’t have is that the building is on fire, so what’s the choice?
Womenetics: How exactly does your program help these girls?
DeLuca-Johnson: We raise appropriate awareness of the problem and mobilize people and resources for organizations who give direct care to the children. We offer training to public officials and law enforcement officials. We have more than 1,500 registered volunteers. Some give support to families who take the girls into foster care.
Womenetics: Why do you think it’s important that churches are involved in this work?
DeLuca-Johnson: I believe there’s been no social change without church involvement. We’re called to do this work. Although we are a Christian-based organization, we partner with any organization that helps children, and volunteers come from all over.
Womenetics: How do you keep girls from being exploited?
DeLuca-Johnson: Some of these girls have been sexually abused before they go into prostitution. Some children at risk are in foster care because they don’t have a permanent family. Georgia is unique in that we have a program dedicated to finding, assessing, and placing victims of child sex and putting them in appropriate restorative care. We need to treat them and try to get the girls back on track. Some do have homes to go back to.
But we need to reduce the demand and make it socially unacceptable to purchase a person for sex. We need to talk about it openly and have punishment for this.
Womenetics: Have you started duplicating this program around the country?
DeLuca-Johnson: No, but we are working on a tool kit that’s being produced right now and will be done in the summer. We’ve had requests for this tool kit. We have a database of people who have asked for it from around the country and other countries. We’re looking at it strategically. We want to promote long-term community involvement, not just a one-time program. The tool kit has three targeted action plans – one to colleges, one to churches, and one to corporations.
Womenetics: This must be very depressing work. What do you do to lighten your life?
DeLuca-Johnson: I have a great husband and a fabulous staff, and we believe we’re doing good. We’re changing the lives of some children. But I also play tennis.
Womenetics: When you were the age of these girls, what was your life like?
DeLuca-Johnson: I don’t think I had near the exposure to sexually explicit material that 13 year olds have today. At that age, I was in the middle school band, and most of my activities were school or home based. I lived in a two-parent household with my two brothers and sister. I think more sexually explicit material is available in our culture today, and it’s more accepted than it was in my time. The fact that Abercrombie & Fitch is selling padded bikini tops for young girls disturbs me. I’m truly not a prude, but I think we’ve gone way the other way.
Jan Jaben-Eilon was a founding staff writer of the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Since then, she has been the international editor of Advertising Age magazine and has written for such publications as The New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Washington Journalism Review, and Consumer Reports. She is the author of soon-to-be-published (There is) Life After Cancer. Jan and her husband have homes in Atlanta and Jerusalem.
