Somaly Mam
Somaly Mam has a very moving story. She pioneered her own shelter in Cambodia for young children and adolescents who have worked in brothels in Cambodia and across the world. In the brothels of Cambodia and elsewhere, there was, and still is, little choice for the young women and children who work in them. Many are there out of economic need. Some are sold by family members for a profit, others are kidnapped and sold to the brothel, and others would rather work in a brothel than to see their families hungry and sick. In her speech, Somaly reflected back to the time when she lived the brothel life. She witnessed a friend’s murder, and admitted to wanting to murder that man who left her only friend slain. For Somaly, she didn’t know what love was growing up. She didn’t know what life was.
At 12 years old, Somaly was sold to a brothel by a man that she called her grandfather. She considered escaping the brothel, but then wondered why. No one loved her outside of the brothel. Somaly pointed out that child prostitutes are victimized three-fold. They are punished by laws that don’t give due process. They are stigmatized by society,and by their families. If girls become prostitutes, their families won’t take them back because they are seen as “bad luck”. Men are rarely prosecuted for crimes related to prostitution in Cambodia. Somaly shared that out of 4,000 cases of child prostitution that she knew of at the time of this speech, only 3 men were convicted and sentenced to the maximum 3 year sentence.
Somaly Mam also shared the following figures and facts about child prostitution in Cambodia’s Phnom Penh: 70% of the patrons at these brothels are local males. They target young girls as young as age 4 and 5. In the West, sex with children ages 4 and 5 is considered statutory rape, reprehensible, and these men would be labeled as pedophiles. Somaly Mam detailed specific reasons why these brothel frequenters target incredibly young children and explained that it is due to the belief systems of the society. For example, these men that sexually exploit children believe that sex with a virgin will cure HIV, give them white skin, and perpetuate longevity etc… After losing their virginity, many young girls will get stitches to be sold as a virgin again because virgins turn a higher profit than children who have already lost their virginity. Unsurprisingly, 30% of the patrons of these often dirty and clandestine brothels are Westerners. Somaly Mam also shared that these victims of this abuse are HIV positive and they are going to die. Although brothel owners turn immense profits from reselling the virginity of these young children and exploiting these teens and adolescents, these forced child prostitutes will still die of HIV because money for the resources and medication to treat them is in the pockets of the sick individuals who fuel this system. Their lives are short- lived and horrific. Their innocence is stolen for 5 minutes of pleasure to satisfy the unquenchable appetites of pedophiles.
Women don’t have equal rights in Cambodia. They sacrifice their lives for the family. One question posed to Somaly was, “How do we combat human trafficking?” She answered, “Work with politics and government. Law and commitment to those laws need to be in place in order to make a change. We need to react more encouraged.” She suggested that attenders visit her website at somaly.org as well visit the Red Light Children’s Organization. Somaly Mam has done incredible work with establishing programs for young woman who have sold themselves to the brothel and has worked with these young girls to reclaim their lives. It is absolutely inspirational work that she is doing with these young people. Perhaps the most important contribution that Somaly Mam has made in the fight against human trafficking is sharing her testimony and making the world aware that it is such a global problem. Human trafficking is the second most lucrative business only to arms trafficking.
Progressive steps that Somaly has taken to change the faulty thinking of brothel goers includes speaking with military officers in Cambodia about changes in sexual behavior. If there was no demand for sex with children, there wouldn’t be child brothels. Hence, she speaks to military personal about love-making with their wives, using condoms, HIV, and awareness of other STD’s. The discussion also included a need to attack transnational-child pornography. Attenders were encouraged to talk about these issues of human trafficking, transnational pornography, pedophilia and child prostitution with friends, families, colleagues to spread awareness.
The best resource for learning more about Somaly Mam’s incredible story is her autobiography: The Road of Loss Innocence. It’s one of the best books that I’ve ever read.
Please stay involved in our Herstory Month Series!
Other Posts by Eryn:
Black History’s Leading Literary Lady
The Black Panther Party For Self Defense
Intelligence of Interference? COINTELPRO and the Black Panther Party
“How they sold Marcus Garvey for rice”-LH
Yes you’re a woman…just a different kind
Vote to Discontinue Black History Month
Where’s my Forty Acres and a Mule
Too black to be white, too white to be black
I don’t date outside my species!
Eryn is a Bostonian native who currently resides in the Metro New York area. She completed her B.A. in Psychology from St. John’s University where she also studied Mandarin, Chinese. Eryn has conducted psycho-social, medical, and environmental research. When she’s off the clock, Eryn spends time learning about world cultures, languages, and the best restaurants in town. She is currently working on her first novel A Beautiful Autymn. You can find more of Eryn’s work ranging from free-writes, poetry, and social analysis at http://autymn.wordpress.com
[...] question therein is: How do we educate these very young women? As was discussed yesterday on the Herstory of Somaly Mam, there is demand for sex with children. Obviously, there are parents who willingly subject their [...]
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Eryn,
Great article! One of the most astonishing things to me is that often when women or girls escape some of these brothels and go to the police, the police return them to the brothels! If you haven’t read it, I think you would enjoy reading “Half the Sky.” Enjoy may not be the right word because it is filled with stories like that of Somaly, but it is also filled with hope because many women like Somaly are doing their part and more in making sure the same things don’t happen to other women.
Looking forward to reading more herstories this month!
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[...] New York: Somalie Mam, a sex trafficking survivor, spoke about human trafficking in Cambodia at Fordham University. She said that 70% of the patron in the Cambodian brothels at the capital city are local males. Since women’s equal rights are not guaranteed by the law, children are often subject to sexual exploitation or human trafficking. Also, Manhattan launches cybercrime and Identity Theft bureau. The bureau will enhance the district attorney’s ability to fight against high technology crime including child exploitation. [...]
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Caty,
I have GOT to pick up Half of the Sky. I heard the author speak at the UN last September and I haven’t been able to grab it since! Thanks for reading and I hope you like our Herstory series!!!
Eryn
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[...] Somaly Mam, is a Women’s Herstory Heroine that we covered earlier in the series. Yesterday, she spoke at the Levin Institute in New York City at an event hosted by the United Nations Association of New York. The UNA has established human trafficking as the initiative and main of their advocacy committee. There is a sense of urgency as recognized by the UNA advocacy committee as reports from the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that human trafficking is a business worth 4 billion dollars. According to this study, there are 4 million victims of human trafficking annually. There are so many misconceptions surrounding this new focus on human trafficking. Some of these misconceptions include that girls are exploited by men for sex. But, brothel owners that are exploiting women are often owned and operated by women. The second misconception is that human trafficking is a foreign probem but it is something that takes place right in New York City. Forced prostitution is not only imposed on women of Eastern Europe but on young girls and boys on every continent, in every country, in every city. [...]
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[...] Somaly Mam is a Women’s Herstory Heroine who we covered earlier in the series. Yesterday, she spoke at the Levin Institute in New York City at an event hosted by the United Nations Association of New York. The UNA has established human trafficking as the main initiative of their advocacy committee. There is a sense of urgency, recognized by the UNA advocacy committee as reports from the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime estimates that human trafficking is a business worth 4 billion dollars annually. According to this study, there are 4 million victims of human trafficking each year. There is a number of interesting facts about human trafficking that I learned at the event that I wanted to share with the Conducive Chronicle readers. [...]
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