Center for the Healing & Cultural Arts

WHAT IS A PG?

A PureGirl is one who is pure, whole, virtuous and modest.

We focus on the whole person--the physical, mental and spiritual aspect of each girl's life.

Being a PG is about making choices—choices that are right, choices that will shape teens’ lives and the individuals they become. It’s about knowing who you are and believing in yourself.

PGs' Program Fees

Our services are only $30 per teen girl thanks to donations, grants and committed volunteers who work together to create a support system for success.

Rated: PG's' Program Mission:

To prevent underage sexual activity, teen pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases and infections, human trafficking, teen pornography and exploitation through education and awareness.

Rated: PG's Program Vision:

To position and equip teen girls to one day have a successful career, spiritual enrichment, good health in body, marriage and family relationships.

This video offers a powerful message in reference to making healthy choices. It is an exact depiction to our organization's mission and goals as it pertains to teen pregnancy and STD/STI prevention.

PureGirls

She Can Smile Because Her Future Looks Bright

RATED: PG

This program is designed to provide education, self-awareness, self-respect and self-esteem. Promotes sexual abstinence until marriage. Provides education and awareness in teen pregancy, STD/STI, teen sex trafficking, and sexual exploitation prevention, as well as teen obesity, tobacco, drug & alcohol, school drop out, criminal activities, and juvenile delinquency prevention.

Underage Sexual Activity, Sexually Transmitted Diseases & Infections

Is a sexual experience worth your health? Your physical life? Your spiritual life?

If you engage in premarital or extramarital sexual activity:

(1) You are very likely to contract an STD;

(2) You may have an STD and not realize it until it's too late;

(3) You could be legally liable if you infect someone.

If you discover that you have an STD:

(1) You need treatment immediately;

(2) You must stop sexual activity;

(3) You need to notify sexual partners.

(a) STDs are the most common diseases in America next to the common cold and flu.

(b) 1 in 4 Americans are presently infected with an STD.

(d) 45 million Americans are infected with an incurable STD.

(e) 35-50 different kinds of STDs exist.

(f) 20 different STDs are rampant among the young.

(g) 63% of all STDs occur in persons less than 25 years of age.

(h) STDs infect 3 million teenagers each year.

(i) 80% infected with an STD do not develop the initial symptoms.

(j) STDs are contagious even though no symptoms exist.

(k) New strains of STDs are resistant to treatment.

(l) STDs often cause chronic pain and permanent damage.

(m) STD infection increases the possibility of contracting AIDS.

(n) Some STDs are incurable and can eventually kill.

If you are involved sexually, you need to know the risks, the danger and warning signs:

Beware.: Your partner may not know (s)he has an STD. 80% infected do not know their condition.

Beware. Your partner may not tell you the truth if (s)he has been sexually active in the past.

Beware. STDs are not prevented with condom use.

Beware. You can have an STD and have no symptoms for weeks, months, possibly years. STDs are contagious even though no symptoms exist.

Beware. Teens are much more susceptible to STD damage because they have a lower level of antibodies than adults.

Avoid The Risk.

Save Sex For Marriage

THE MOST COMMON STDs

Chlamydia

Symptoms:

Men: Usually none. Some experience discharge from the penis and

burning with urination.

Women: Usually none. Some experience pain and/or vaginal discharge.

Damage:

Men: Sterility

Women: Considered to be the most common cause of sterility. Advanced state may require removal of uterus, tubes, and ovaries.

Statistics:

(1) 3 million new cases reported annually.

(2) 75% are not aware they are infected.

(3) 40% of those sexually active are suspected carriers.

Gonorrhea

Symptoms:

Men: Pus from urethra. Burning upon urination.

Women: Pelvic pain. Painful urination and pus-like discharge.

Damage:

Men: Sterility. Scarring of the urethra and urinary tract problems.

Women: Sterility. Surgery in severe cases.

Statistics:

(1) 1.1 million new cases reported annually.

(2) 80% are not aware they are infected in the early stages.

Syphilis

Symptoms:

Men: 1st stage: Swollen nonpainful ulcers on external genitalia.

2nd stage: Changes of skin, fever, enlarged lymph nodes.

Women: 1st stage: Often unnoticed.

2nd stage: Same as men.

Damage:

Men: Brain disorders, heart disease, blindness, dementia and death.

Women: Same as men. Can cause birth defects or death in newborns if

mother is infected.

Statistics:

(1) 120,000 new cases reported annually.

(2) 50% are not aware they have this disease.

HIV/AIDS

Symptoms:

Men: Fever, sore throat, fatigue.

Women: Same as men.

Damage:

Men: Immune system breakdown; death.

Women: Same as men.

Statistics:

(1) More than 1 million infected. Approx. 20% in young adult population.

(2) 20% infected during the teen years.

Genital Herpes

Symptoms:

Men: Lesions appear at the site of infection - periodic eruptions of painful blister and ulcers anywhere on the body.

Women: Same as men. Causes infant death.

Damage:

Men: Continuous outbreaks. Eventually may lead to hospitalization. Lifetime medication required.

Women: Same as men.

Statistics:

(1) 45 million infected. 1 million new cases annually.

(2) 75% show no symptoms.

(3) 25% of sexually active women have this disease.

HPV (Human Papilloma-Virus)

Symptoms:

Men: Wart-like genital growths.

Women: Often no visible symptoms. Some experience vulvar burning itching and pain. Abnormal pap smears.

Damage:

Men: Cancer of the penis and anus.

Women: Initially premalignant changes difficult to eradicate. Develops into cancer if not treated.

Statistics:

(1) 24 - 40 million people are thought to be carriers.

(2) 80 different strains exist today.

(3) 75% of women have this virus.

Hepatitis B

Symptoms:

Men: Often none. Some experience yellowing of the skin (jaundice), tiredness, dark urine and gray-colored stool.

Women: Same as men.

Damage:

Men: Severe liver damage. Can eventually lead to cancer of the liver and cirrhosis.

Women: Same as men.

Statistics:

(1) 300,000 new cases annually.

(2) The most common STD in the world.

(3) 40% - 50% children born to infected mothers develop liver cancer.

PID (Pelvic Inflammatory Disease)

Symptoms:

Men: This disease affects only women.

Women: See Chlamydia and Gonorrhea. Often symptoms are minor and mistaken for menstrual cramps.

Damage:

Men: This disease affects only women.

Women: Ectopic Pregnancy (fertilized egg implants in the fallopian tubes instead of uterus). Can be life-threatening. Sterility, and cancer common.

Statistics:

(1) 1 million new cases annually; most in the 15-19 year age group.

(2) 100,000 women become infertile as a result of PID each year.

Teen Sex Trafficking & Exploitation

The National Human Trafficking Hotline is:

(888) 373-7888

In this new world of hi-tech information (Facebook, texting, skyping, Instagram, on-line dating, etc.), our adolescent girls and young women will become well informed of the dangers in which these avenues can be used to exploit minors.

Teen sex trafficking and exploitation is no longer a Thailand, Phillipine, Mexico problem. It's found its way in our neighborhoods and is one of the most shocking crimes occurring in Georgia, and chances are you don't even know it exists. Often a family member or a friend of the family has already abused the minor.

Men no longer travel to Rio to have sex with a teen. They are now traveling right here in our own backyard.

Teen girls are the “new crack” as a victim of sex trafficking. Several gangs are in on it. They call themselves guerrilla pimps. They're literally snatching girls off the street, breaking them down and forcing them into prostitution, having them turn 10-20 tricks a day. The younger the better. Pimping girls is easier, cheaper and less likely to get the predator shot or landed in jail for any serious time. And unlike a kilo, one girl can be sold over and over and over again. There's a ready supply and an endless demand.

There's also the Casanova/Romeo pimp. He gains the teen girl's trust and breaks down her support system and self-esteem. He treats her to meals, buys her clothes and makes her think that he loves her. Later she's coerced into submission through gang rape, confinement, beatings, torture, cutting, tattooing, burning, branding, being deprived of basic needs, and threats of murder.

Pimpin' is high tech now because of the Internet. That's where they make the real money. They don't have to have girls walking the streets. They arrange everything over the Internet. They set up a motel room and just run the Johns in and out at one hundred, two hundred dollars a pop, earning $150,000 per year for her pimp.

STATISTICS ON TEEN SEX TRAFFICKING AND EXPLOITATION IN GEORGIA

A study done a few years ago by the Schapiro Group that 42 percent of calls for sexual services are coming from the suburbs outside Atlanta.”

The most common age of entry into the commercial sex industry is 12-14 years of age.

Each month, 300-500 girls are commercially sexually exploited throughout Georgia and the numbers are steadily and rapidly growing.

On average, 100 juvenile girls are exploited each night in Georgia and the number is steadily and rapidly growing.

7,200 men pay for sex with adolescent females in Georgia each month and the number is steadily and rapidly growing.

The rules of sexuality have changed. Todays teenagers have a different set of values about sex, easier access to contraceptives and abortion and less fears about sexually transmitted disease such as herpes and HIV/AIDS. While sex can be very easy to come by today, without the proper education it can also literally kill and send you to prison.

BECOME A

TEEN PEER LIFE COACH

TeenWise Academy

At TeenWise Academy, PG's Enjoy Learning Life Skills That Promote Healthy Life Decisions And Share With Their Peers What They've Learned.

Girls will be informed on the most Common and other sexually transmitted diseases and infections
Girls will learn the difference between Lust and Love
Girls will learn the importance of Waiting to have sex
Girls will become informed and educated on teenage sex trafficking and sexual exploitation
Girls will learn the dangers of drugs, alcohol and tobacco use
Girls will be given powerful lifeskill tools so that they may Increase their self- confidence and help their peers to do the same
Girls will have the opportunity to attend educational and community service field trips to understand the fundamentals of charity and self-worth

Girls will have the advantage of Joining our F.U.N. group (Friends United Network) and developing lifelong friendships at our annual PureGirls Graduation Ceremony.
Girls will have the opportunity to attend the week-long Georgia Teen Institute, a leadership and prevention conference at Oxford University.

For more information about our Abstinence Program please click here