Somaly Mam
| Somaly Mam | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Born | 1970 or 1971 (?)[Note 1] Mondulkiri , Cambodia |
| Nationality | Cambodian |
| Occupation | Human rights activist |
| Known for | Anti-Sex trafficking, Philanthropy |
Somaly Mam (b. 1970 or 1971) is a Cambodian author and human rights advocate who focuses primarily on sex trafficking.
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Early life [edit]
Somaly Mam does not have any birth records showing when she was born or who her parents were, though she was born to a tribal minority family in Mondulkiri Province, Cambodia. In her memoir, The Road of Lost Innocence, she states that she was born in either 1970 or 1971.[1]:2 In the mid-1970s, Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge terrorized Cambodia and drove thousands of people into the country side. Essentially orphaned, Mam lived in a small Pnong village until a man picked her up and promised to find her father.[1] She became his indentured servant or slave. Mam was instructed to call him "grandfather" because it's a sign of respect to the elderly.[1]:7
Mam was abused by her "grandfather" until she was approximately 14, when she was sold to a brothel and forced into prostitution. She was also forced to marry a stranger.[2] Her husband was a fighter in the Khmer Rouge, who beat and raped her.[1]:34 She was forced to prostitute herself on the streets and made to have sex with five or six clients per day.[3] When Mam would not have sex with a client, she would be locked up, tortured, raped, and threatened with death; she claims she was forced to watch her best friend being viciously murdered.[1]:42-45[4] Fearing she would meet that same fate, Somaly escaped her captors and set about building a new life for herself.[4]
Philanthropy [edit]
In 1993 an aid worker from France found Mam and helped her escape Cambodia.[5] She moved to Paris and eventually married a French citizen, but returned to Cambodia to help women caught in similar situations she experienced.
Mam served as a nurse from Médecins Sans Frontières and, in her spare time, handed out condoms, soap, and information to women in the brothels. In 1996, she founded AFESIP (Agir pour les Femmes en Situation Precaire or Acting for Women in Distressing Situations), a Cambodian NGO dedicated to rescuing, housing and rehabilitating women and children in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam who have been sexually exploited.[6] AFESIP conducts outreach work to try helping the women still enslaved. The organization also works with law enforcement to raid the brothels. Mam has saved over 4,000 women from sexual slavery.[5] Her sanctuaries are in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam.[6]
In June 2007, Mam co-founded the Somaly Mam Foundation, which officially launched in September 2007. The Somaly Mam Foundation is a nonprofit organization formed in the United States that supports anti-trafficking groups and helps women and girls who have been forced into sexual slavery.[7]
International recognition and awards [edit]
- Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation in the presence of Queen Sofia of Spain, 1998
- CNN Hero, 2006
- Glamour Woman of the Year 2006
- Olympic flag bearer, 2006 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony, Torino, Italy.[4]
- Honorary Doctor of Public Service from Regis University[8]
- US State Department “Heroes of Anti-Trafficking” award
- World's Children's Prize for the Rights of the Child in Sweden for her "dangerous struggle" to defend the rights of children in Cambodia.[9]
- Roland Berger Human Dignity Award 2008[10]
- TIME magazine's 100 most influential people, with the accompanying article written by actress Angelina Jolie,[5] 2009
- The Guardian Top 100 Women: Activists and Campaigners, 2011[11]
- The Daily Beast Women in the World, 2011[12]
- “Mimosa D’Oro”
- Festival du Scoop Prize, France
- Excmo Ayuntaniento de Galdar Concejalia de Servicio Sociale, Spain
Glamour Woman of the Year [edit]
Glamour magazine named Somaly Mam “Woman of the Year” in 2006. The feature story was given to Mariane Pearl, a columnist for Glamour. Pearl visited Cambodia to meet with Somaly and see the destruction caused to young girls that are forced into prostitution and brothels.[13]
Bibliography [edit]
- The Road of Lost Innocence[14]
References [edit]
- ^ a b c d e Mam, Somaly (September 9, 2008). The Road of Lost Innocence. United States: Random House Publishing. pp. 2–45. ISBN 978-0-385-52621-0 (0-385-52621-0) Check
|isbn=value (help). - ^ "Stolen Innocence". November 19, 2005.
- ^ Hosking, Patrick; Wighton, David (December 4, 2005). "A Life in the Day: Somaly Mam". London: The Sunday Times (U.K.). Retrieved October 7, 2010.
- ^ a b c "Change-Maker in Women’s History: Somaly Mam". Dosomething.org. March 27, 2009. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
- ^ a b c "Somaly Mam". Time Magazine. April 30, 2009. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
- ^ a b "Rescuing Child Sex Workers". PBS. February 12, 2010. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
- ^ "Somaly Mam". Change.org. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
- ^ "Honorary Degrees". Regis University. Retrieved October 7, 2010.
- ^ Cambodian activist who rescues sex slaves wins World's Children's Prize, International Herald Tribune, (AP), April 16, 2008
- ^ "Somaly Mam from Cambodia is the first winner of the Roland Berger Award". Roland Berger Stiftung. Retrieved 16 September 2011.
- ^ Saner, Emine (March 8, 2011). "Somaly Mam". London: The Guardian.
- ^ "Women in the World: Somaly Mam, Cambodia". The Daily Beast.
- ^ Pearl, Mariane. "Global Diary Cambodia: The Sex Slave Tragedy". Glamour. Retrieved 19 September 2011.
- ^ "The Road of Lost Innocence".
External links [edit]
Notes [edit]
- ^ According to her memoir, The Road of Lost Innocence, it states that she was born in either 1970 or 1971. The exact date of her birthday is unknown.
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