Thread: Touching Story

Someone trying to make a difference, bless her heart.

Of Human Bondage

Somaly Mam Escaped Years of Sexual Slavery, But Not the Burden of Helping Others Do the Same


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Somaly Mam has found an advocate against human trafficking in Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), right. Mam's foundation has rescued 4,000 girls and women from brothels in the last decade. (Photos By Nikki Kahn -- The Washington Post)
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Somaly Mam on Capitol Hill, where she's taken her mission to end human trafficking. The State Department estimates that about 2 million people a year are affected. (By Nikki Kahn -- The Washington Post)
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(Nikki Kahn - The Washington Post)
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By David Montgomery
Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 22, 2008; Page C01

For so long, silence equaled survival for Somaly Mam -- when she was raped in her Cambodian village at 12; forced to marry at 14; sold into a brothel in Phnom Penh at 16; raped, beaten and tortured more times than she can remember by the clients and pimps until she escaped that world at about 21.
The ages are approximate. She doesn't know how old she is. ("Maybe 37. Maybe 38. Maybe younger.") She never knew her parents in the deep mountain forest of her childhood, where she felt safe talking only to the trees.
Along the way, somehow she learned not to be silent. That is the most extraordinary part of her shocking life's journey, an achievement she still cannot fully explain. Her hard-earned ability to speak out has helped her rescue 4,000 girls and women from brothels in the last decade. It has helped her build one of the largest nongovernmental organizations in Cambodia, with 150 employees, sheltering 220 women and girls in that country, with more in shelters in Vietnam and Laos. And earlier this month it brought her to Capitol Hill to urge members of Congress to pass a law against human trafficking.


For the full article here's the link: washingtonpost.com

Here's a passage I found a bit touching:

She was a child on her own in a culture where children are "a kind of domestic livestock," she writes, and where "there is only one law for women: silence before rape and silence after."

And....

"I don't feel like I can change the world," she also writes. "I don't even try. I only want to change this small life that I see standing in front of me, which is suffering. I want to change this small real thing that is the destiny of one little girl. And then another, and another, because if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to live with myself or sleep at night."

That is nice, I like her concept of not trying to change the world. Thanks for sharing

She has done a good job I will give her that. but she has made alot of money along the way and told quite a few porkies.

Originally Posted by UpTooYou

but she has made alot of money along the way and told quite a few porkies.

care to expand on that ?

Her book is worth a read, but very shocking

Mods - why has my post been deleted?

It was perfectly valid, sympathetic to the subject matter and non controversial - what the fuck is going on please?

Mods - why has my post been deleted?

It was perfectly valid, sympathetic to the subject matter and non controversial - I ALSO DID NOT WRITE THE ABOVE POST #8 - what the fuck is going on please???

looks like you where a causality of the database updates Scamp

Well who's in charge of that, DD I suppose - can he retrieve it? ...And who wrote post number eight and put it in my name?

Why does he fuck about with the site at peak time?