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Thursday March 18, 2010

Release Date: 03.18.10 | Location: All Metro Atlanta | Organization: The Body & Sold Project

IKAM Productions Presents The Body & Sold Project

Stage Play and Reading Elevates Awareness of the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children

IKAM Productions presents Body & Sold, a stage play written by Deborah Lake Fortson and based on interviews conducted with young men and women who have fallen victim to Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC), also known as child sex trafficking. The play will be held on Monday, April 12, 2010 from 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. at The Robert Ferst Center at on the campus of Georgia Tech. Tickets range from $45 to $100 and will go on sale Monday, March 22, 2010 at The Ferst Center box office.

Directed by Laurence Ruth, Body & Sold will feature a host of local and national talent, including Nina Brown, producer of V-103's Frank and Wanda Show, celebrity personal trainer Shanay Norvell and America's Next Top Model contestant Bre Scullark, who is also the spokesperson and ambassador of Drop Dead Gorgeous, one of the organizations who will benefit from Body & Sold. The event is also supported by Congressman John Lewis, Georgia State Representative Stephanie Stuckey Benfield and Baltimore Ravens Daniel Wilcox and his wife Shauna who all serve as Honorary Co-Chairs.

The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children has grown to epidemic proportions throughout the United States. In the State of Georgia alone, nearly 400 teen children are trafficked each month, and according to the FBI, Atlanta is one of 14 U.S. with the highest rate of CSEC. While Georgia lawmakers are working to institute tougher penalties against those who commit these crimes against children, several community organizations have taken up the cause to rescue and restore the victims, some who are as young as 10 years old.

Such organizations include the following non-profit organizations, all of whom are proactively combating CSEC and will benefit from the proceeds of the April 12 Body & Sold event:

• Drop Dead Gorgeous, a social justice organization, which utilizes the fashion and entertainment industries as its vehicle to reduce demand for Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC).
• Girls Are Not for Sale, a national campaign through the Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS) program (www.gems-girls.org) aimed at inspiring one million Americans to take action to nurture and empower American girls who have been trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation.
• Living Water for Girls (www.livingwaterforgirls.org), a Georgia-based therapeutic residential program that provides professional services and care for girls ages 12-17 who have been victims of commercial sexual exploitation.

Additional performances of Body & Sold will be held in Washington, DC and New York this Fall. For more information and sponsorship availability, please contact Zenobia Young at (404) 236-9949 or theatre@ikamproductions.com. For media inquiries and interview requests, please contact Traci Johnson at (770) 354-6487 or traci@seguemarketing.com.