Violence Against Sexually Exploited Women and Girls: Prosecuting the Brutality Chronicled in the GEMS Documentary Very Young Girls

Jon Junig of the New York County District Attorney’s Office joins to examine the 2007 documentary Very Young Girls, which exposed the recruitment and extreme violence inflicted on sexually exploited women and girls in New York City and highlighted the critical, multidisciplinary support survivors need to heal and exit exploitation through the work of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS), a longstanding NYC nonprofit.Their discussion explores the legal strategies prosecutors must use to expose the full scope of exploiters’ abuse, including beatings, rape, nonphysical coercion, and emotional manipulation and the importance of partnering with multidisciplinary professionals to support victims and strengthen case. They also address common defense tactics that seek to blame or discredit victims or minimize the violence they endured.Jon offers concrete strategies for countering harmful narratives about “choice,” preparing fact-finders to understand coping behaviors often mislabeled as “counterintuitive,” and using expert testimony to contextualize delayed disclosure, flat affect, and a victim’s return to a trafficker. The conversation also highlights evidence-based prosecution practices—building cases that do not over-rely on victim testimony, litigating motions to limit prejudicial attacks on credibility, and reframing victim behavior through a trauma-informed lens rather than one of blame. Together, they underscore the legal tools—and the courtroom persistence—required to hold accountable those who inflict violence on sexually exploited women and girls.For more information:Where to watch the Documentary Very Young Girls is available here and at at https://www.gems-girls.org/. Please visit AEquitasResource.org and JustExits.org where you can read about the strategies to enhance the prosecution of violence against the sexually exploited here and find on-demand trainings, articles, amicus briefs, and request expert assistance.