RedFlagMagazine

Imagine a brutal world where young children and women have no voice and rights over their own bodies and their own lives.  Where they are being sexually exploited and forced into modern day slavery in the second fastest growing organized crime in the world – human sex trafficking.  We are living in that nightmare right now, at this very moment.

Sexual slavery is happening everywhere in the world, in over one hundred and seventy five countries.  Human sex trafficking is even happening in our own backyards – the United States.  Sexual slavery does not discriminate against age, ethnicity, sex, or socioeconomic class, and by the end of this year an estimate of up to two million children will be sold into prostitution.

Out of this brutal world, one woman has emerged as the face of the crusade against sexual slavery. Her name is Somaly Mam.  Many do not know her, like most do not realize how many children, women, and young men are being subjected to sexual slavery and abuse at this very moment, but there are quite a few people who call her the “Modern Day Mother Theresa” and an even luckier few who truly know her as the woman who saved their life.  She is undoubtedly a superhero of our generation, a warrior and a healer of souls nearly forgotten.

Somaly Mam was born into a small tribal village in Cambodia in extreme poverty and orphaned at a young age in the aftermath of the Khmer Rouge Regime.  She was taken in by a man whom posed as her “grandfather.”  He made her his slave and abused her repeatedly until he sold her into a brothel around the age of twelve (Somaly still does not know her true age).  She was forced to sexually service four to six men daily and gangs of men would sadistically rape her.  She tried to escape – her punishment was being tied up naked in the cellar, reeking of sewage, with scorpions and snakes.  She was beaten with a cane and raped for a week by the brothel owner’s group of friends, until she was high with fever.  She continued to be raped, beaten, and tortured on a regular basis.  She had no voice over her own body and life for over ten years.

One night Somaly Mam was forced to witness her best friend being murdered.  Realizing that her own life could come to the same end, she looked for a way out.  A Swiss aid worker gave her money for her sexual services, which gave her the money to pay off her grandfather’s “debt.”  Ironically, through him, she met French humanitarian worker, Pierre Legros, who took her to Paris.

Somaly Mam went back to Cambodia and served as a nurse for Doctors without Borders. In her spare time, she would hand out basic necessities to brothel workers such as soap, condoms, toothpaste, and information.  This work inspired her to want to do more to help those young children and women who did not have a voice.

Somaly Mam has since dedicated her life to save victims from all over the world.  She has already saved over seven thousand human lives.  She increased global awareness in 2005, when she shared her unimaginable and painful past in her book “The Road of Lost Innocence.”

Somaly Mam’s dedication has resulted in her family’s safety being continuously threatened.  Not only has she been sent death threats, when she refused to back down, the traffickers kidnapped her fourteen year old daughter; drugged and gang raped her.  Through steadfast opposition, Somaly Mam continues her humanitarian work.

With Somaly Mam’s inception of AFESIP in 1996, she began her battle to combat sexual crimes by establishing aid centers in Southeast Asia for rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration.

Two American Entrepreneurs, Jared Greenberg and Nicholas Lumpp wanted to increase global awareness on human trafficking.  Fate coincided; as they met Somaly Mam, and she shared with them her vision for a U.S-based organization that would give her the platform and funding needed to expand global awareness and take her movement to the next level.  The three collaborated to open the Somaly Mam Foundation.

The three cornerstones of the Somaly Mam Foundation are victim services, survivor empowerment, and eradicating slavery.  The Somaly Mam Foundation works closely with various government, policy makers, and law enforcement officials by conducting raids against the brothels to rescue women and children.  The victims are slowly rehabilitated by meeting basic needs such as shelter, food, and medical care.  The survivors are given psychological care, education, and vocational training such as hair styling, sewing, and tailoring; to give them the skills necessary for sustainable employment to help reintegrate them back into society.

Somaly Mam has taken her battle one step further with her new program, Voices for Change (VFC).  VFC volunteers are involved in every aspect of the process of sexual slavery in the outreach, rescuing, recovery, rehabilitation, and reintegration of the victims.  Somaly understands that these survivors intuitively can help reach other victims faster and ultimately, they can rescue more women than typically is possible by a non-survivor.

Sopheap’s life was transformed with her participation in VFC.  She was a sex worker who was hooked on drugs, severely emaciated, and depressed.  All her old friends thought she was dead, but she has thrived to become one of the leaders for VFC.  She is an example to other women that they too can change their lives and she is there to help them begin the hard journey to reclaim their freedom.

There are currently twelve members of the VFC that have graduated the intensive three year program.  Through her vision of empowering the victims to become the next generation of leaders, she is also helping them heal through their work as advocates and humanitarians.

Somaly Mam would be the ideal candidate for The Nobel Peace Prize for her humanitarian efforts.  She is increasing global awareness to eradicate human trafficking and sexual slavery with her powerful cycle of healing, empowerment, and change.  She resolutely states that “I don’t want to go without a trace” and undoubtedly she has succeeded.