LOS ANGELES, Nov. 7, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Kelly Hill changed her life eight years ago and decided to "do something right for once." This month she will be honored as One of Ten Outstanding Young People of The World, by the Junior Chamber International, for her personal accomplishment and for her efforts to improving a major social issue -- commercial sexual exploitation (CSE).
Hill escaped a hidden life in the sex industry, with the help of her younger sister: "I felt so grateful and blessed that I had someone to talk to, someone who loved me and who believed in me, even when I didn't believe in myself -- that I wanted to offer that same type of sisterly support to other women and children in the sex trade," said Hill.
She hopes this new honor will draw increased attention to commercial sexual exploitation -- the most ignored form of child abuse and domestic violence in the United States today, and her groups efforts to stop it.
WHEN: Monday, November 25, 2002, 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: MGM Grand Hotel, Las Vegas, MGM-EXF Theater (SI)
WHO: Kelly Hill, Founder, Sisters Offering Support
WHAT: Ten Outstanding Young People Of the World (TOYP) Award Ceremony, Junior Chamber International World Congress
Sisters Offering Support (SOS), a nonprofit organization was founded in 1995 by Kelly, her grandmother and sister in Hawaii, and now serves communities across the country. SOS works to stop commercial sexual exploitation (CSE) by preventing youth from being used and abused through prostitution, pornography, stripping, trafficking and Internet exploitation, and by empowering victims to rebuild their lives. SOS serves 300-500 individuals a year through it's resource center, crisis line, parent support services and six-week exit program, and reaches nearly 4,000 children and youth a year, helping them to stay safe, through it's youth prevention program in schools.
SOS's 'peer-based' programs empower formerly exploited individuals, as leaders and role models, and have been recognized nationally for their accomplishments. These programs are being replicated worldwide.
"Commercial sexual exploitation is not a victimless crime," said Hill. "When a woman or child is bought, sold, forced or coerced to provide sexual services on a daily basis, it is hurting someone. These women and children have little to no freedom or rights, and are abused, beaten, raped, tortured, kidnapped, held captive and murdered."
Actor Andrew Shue, whose Do Something organization and Rolling Stone Magazine named Hill as America's Best Young Community Leader, says that, "Kelly is helping thousands of women and teens escape prostitution and domestic violence by giving them the support and the options they need to achieve their dreams for a better life. She is a powerful example of how each of us can turn adversity into strength and dedicate ourselves to helping people in need."
Earlier this year, Hill received the prestigious TOYA Award, begun in 1938, and named, "One of Ten Outstanding Young Americans," recognizing young people who are the best, brightest and most inspirational leaders America has to offer. Past recipients include John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Gerald Ford, Richard Nixon and celebrities including Elvis Presley, David Copperfield, actors Christopher Reeve and Andrew Shue, as well as Orson Welles, Howard Hughes and Nelson Rockefeller.
There are between 200,000 and 300,000 children in the United States are at high-risk of involvement in commercial sexual exploitation each year (1).
(1) Richard Estes and Neil Alan Wiener, The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children In the U.S., Canada and Mexico. (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 2001). http://caster.ssw.upenn.edu/