Somaly Mam
Encyclopedia
Somaly Mam is a Cambodian author and human rights advocate, focusing primarily on needs of victims of human sex trafficking
, and has garnered official and media acclaim for her efforts.
Somaly Mam does not have any birth records showing when she was born or who her parents were. In her memoir, The Road of Lost Innocence, she states that she was born in either 1970 or 1971. 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 the in a small Phnong village until a man picked her up and promised to find her father. She became his indentured servant
or slave. Mam was instructed to call him "grandfather" because it's a sign of respect to the elderly.
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. Her husband was a fighter in the Khmer Rouge
. Mam experienced violent beatings from her husband. She had five or six clients per day. When Mam wouldn't have sex with a client, she would be taken to a cellar and forced to stay with snakes and scorpions. Mam would be subsequently tortured and raped. She was forced to prostitute herself on the streets.
Somaly was brutally tortured and raped on a daily basis. One night, she was made to watch as her best friend was viciously murdered. Fearing she would meet that same fate, Somaly heroically escaped her captors and set about building a new life for herself. She vowed never to forget those left behind and has since dedicated her life to saving victims and empowering survivors.
and got married. While in Paris, she came to the shocking realization that many other women and girls were ensnared in the same sexual slavery
that she had been. She went home to Cambodia.
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. These items were never otherwise provided or available to the women that Somaly visited. In 1996, she founded AFESIP (Agir pour les Femmes en Situation Precaire or Acting for Women in Distressing Situations), a Cambodian non-governmental organization dedicated to rescuing, housing and rehabilitating women and children in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam who have been sexually exploited. 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. Her sanctuaries are in Cambodia
, Laos
, and Vietnam
.
In June 2007, Mam co-founded the Somaly Mam Foundation
, which officially launched in September 2007. The Somaly Mam Foundation is a non profit organization formed in the United States that supports anti-trafficking groups and helps women and girls who have been forced into sexual slavery.
magazine named Somaly Mam “Woman of the Year” in 2006. They decided to do a feature story and the perfect woman for the job was 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.
Sexual slavery
Sexual slavery is when unwilling people are coerced into slavery for sexual exploitation. The incidence of sexual slavery by country has been studied and tabulated by UNESCO, with the cooperation of various international agencies...
, and has garnered official and media acclaim for her efforts.
Early life
Born to a tribal minority family in the Mondulkiri province of Cambodia, Somaly Mam began life in extreme poverty. With limited options as part of a severely marginalized ethnic group, and living in unimaginable despair, her family often resorted to desperate means to survive. This confluence of dire circumstances led to the unspeakable horrors that would mark Somaly's early years.Somaly Mam does not have any birth records showing when she was born or who her parents were. In her memoir, The Road of Lost Innocence, she states that she was born in either 1970 or 1971. In the mid-1970s, Pol Pot
Pol Pot
Saloth Sar , better known as Pol Pot, , was a Cambodian Maoist revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until his death in 1998. From 1976 to 1979, he served as the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea....
and the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
terrorized Cambodia and drove thousands of people into the country side. Essentially orphaned, Mam lived in the in a small Phnong village until a man picked her up and promised to find her father. She became his indentured servant
Human trafficking
Human trafficking is the illegal trade of human beings for the purposes of reproductive slavery, commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, or a modern-day form of slavery...
or slave. Mam was instructed to call him "grandfather" because it's a sign of respect to the elderly.
Mam was abused by her "grandfather" until she was approximately 14, when she was sold to a brothel and forced into prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
. She was also forced to marry a stranger. Her husband was a fighter in the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...
. Mam experienced violent beatings from her husband. She had five or six clients per day. When Mam wouldn't have sex with a client, she would be taken to a cellar and forced to stay with snakes and scorpions. Mam would be subsequently tortured and raped. She was forced to prostitute herself on the streets.
Somaly was brutally tortured and raped on a daily basis. One night, she was made to watch as her best friend was viciously murdered. Fearing she would meet that same fate, Somaly heroically escaped her captors and set about building a new life for herself. She vowed never to forget those left behind and has since dedicated her life to saving victims and empowering survivors.
Philanthropy
In 1993, an aid worker from France found Mam and helped her escape Cambodia. After Mam escaped the brothels, she went to ParisParis
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and got married. While in Paris, she came to the shocking realization that many other women and girls were ensnared in the same sexual slavery
Sexual slavery
Sexual slavery is when unwilling people are coerced into slavery for sexual exploitation. The incidence of sexual slavery by country has been studied and tabulated by UNESCO, with the cooperation of various international agencies...
that she had been. She went home to Cambodia.
Mam served as a nurse from Médecins Sans Frontières
Médecins Sans Frontières
' , or Doctors Without Borders, is a secular humanitarian-aid non-governmental organization best known for its projects in war-torn regions and developing countries facing endemic diseases. Its headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland...
and, in her spare time, handed out condoms, soap, and information to women in the brothels. These items were never otherwise provided or available to the women that Somaly visited. In 1996, she founded AFESIP (Agir pour les Femmes en Situation Precaire or Acting for Women in Distressing Situations), a Cambodian non-governmental organization dedicated to rescuing, housing and rehabilitating women and children in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam who have been sexually exploited. 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. Her sanctuaries are in Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...
, Laos
Laos
Laos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
, and Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
.
In June 2007, Mam co-founded the Somaly Mam Foundation
Somaly Mam Foundation
The Somaly Mam Foundation is a registered 501 nonprofit organization. The Foundation is dedicated to combating the global sex slave trade through supporting the rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration of the victims and through raising global awareness on the issue...
, which officially launched in September 2007. The Somaly Mam Foundation is a non profit organization formed in the United States that supports anti-trafficking groups and helps women and girls who have been forced into sexual slavery.
International recognition and Awards
- Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation in the presence of Queen Sofia of SpainQueen Sofía of SpainQueen Sofía of Spain is the wife of King Juan Carlos I of Spain.-Early life and family:Princess Sophia of Greece and Denmark was born in Psychiko, Athens, Greece on 2 November 1938, the eldest child of the King Paul of Greece and his wife, Queen Frederika , a former princess of Hanover...
, 1998 - CNNCNNCable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
Hero, 2006 - Glamour Woman of the Year 2006
- Olympic flag bearer, 20062006 Winter OlympicsThe 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...
Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony, Torino, Italy. - HonoraryHonorary degreeAn honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...
Doctor of Public Service from Regis UniversityRegis UniversityRegis University is a private, co-educational Roman Catholic, Jesuit university in the United States. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1877, it is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities... - 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.
- Roland Berger Human Dignity Award 2008
- TIMETime (magazine)Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
magazine's 100 most influential peopleTime 100Time 100 is an annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world, as assembled by Time. First published in 1999 as a result of a debate among several academics, the list has become an annual event.-History and format:...
, with the accompanying article written by actress Angelina JolieAngelina JolieAngelina Jolie is an American actress. She has received an Academy Award, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Golden Globe Awards, and was named Hollywood's highest-paid actress by Forbes in 2009 and 2011. Jolie is noted for promoting humanitarian causes as a Goodwill Ambassador for the...
, 2009 - The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
Top 100 Women: Activists and Campaigners, 2011 - The Daily BeastThe Daily BeastThe Daily Beast is an American news reporting and opinion website founded and published by Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair and The New Yorker as well as the short-lived Talk Magazine. The Daily Beast was launched on October 6, 2008, and is owned by IAC...
Women in the World, 2011 - “Mimosa D’Oro”
- Festival du Scoop Prize, France
- Excmo Ayuntaniento de Galdar Concejalia de Servicio Sociale, Spain
Glamour Woman of the Year
GlamourGlamour (magazine)
Glamour is a women's magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. Founded in 1939 in the United States, it was originally called Glamour of Hollywood....
magazine named Somaly Mam “Woman of the Year” in 2006. They decided to do a feature story and the perfect woman for the job was Mariane Pearl
Mariane Pearl
Mariane van Neyenhoff Pearl is a French freelance journalist and a reporter and columnist for Glamour magazine. She is the widow of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal reporter who was kidnapped and murdered by terrorists in Pakistan in early 2002.-Life and career:Pearl was born in Clichy,...
, 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.