Forgotten Women: How girls get swept into the sex industry – and how they can get out of it

In the latest edition of our Forgotten Women series, Lucy Anna Gray speaks to a woman whose own experience of the sex industry inspired her to help girls just like her

(Tom Ford)

Rachel Lloyd was forced to leave her school in England after her abusive, alcoholic stepfather drained her mother’s finances then left the family. As an underage teen she was raped by an adult and battled with substance abuse. When she moved to Germany, her boyfriend – who was a crack addict – eventually became her pimp.

This is by no means an isolated tale. Studies show anywhere from 50 to 90 per cent of women who end up in the sex industry were sexually abused as children. Poverty is often a driving force for women to get into prostitution. Although some people may choose to work in the sex industry, many are forced into it by circumstance.

So how do we break this destructive cycle? And how do we detect when it’s beginning in the first place?