Somaly Mam (b. 1970 or 1971) 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.
She was born in the Mondulkiri province of Cambodia. Mam was sold into sexual slavery in her childhood. Beaten, raped and tortured as a child, at the age of 30 she became a spokeswoman for women and children tortured in the brothels of Cambodia. She, with her husband Pierre Legros, created the AFESIP (Agir pour les Femmes en Situation Précaire) NGO in 1997 in Cambodia. Since then, this international NGO has developed in Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. Its goals are to save and socially reintegrate people who are victims of these kinds of hardships. Despite threats against her, Somaly Mam has been able to help thousands of young girls and teenagers who have been coerced into prostitution.
She has three children.
Mam's family struggled through poverty and limited opportunities. Although she did/did not receive formal schooling, she was later trained to be a midwife after the genocidal regime. However, Somaly was sold many times by her grandfather as a slave and coerced into prostitution.
She was forced to work in a brothel with many other young girls that were treated horrifically through torture, manipulation, and scare tactics. One night she watched a close friend murdered by a pimp. At this moment, Somaly realized that she was trapped in a dangerous and desperate world. She made it her mission to escape and later find a way to stop this vicious cycle. Her past is a major contributing factor regarding her passion and effort to help young children and women involved with human trafficking.
Because of poverty and the adversity young women face in Cambodia, Somaly Mam worked diligently to overcome the traumatic background in her life. She has very diverse experiences that helped build her work ethic and job skills. At the age of 21, Somaly became a midwife at Choup district Hospital in Cambodia.
A few years later, Somaly traveled to France and began to learn its language. She became the Director of Personnel at a European Restaurant in 1992-93. However, her most rewarding experiences related to social work, such as her earlier days at the Maison the Retraite in France. Somaly also met her former husband, Mr. Pierre Legros, who is also dedicated to social causes, such as victims of human trafficking.
Somaly later returned to Cambodia to bring back some of her experience and ideas to her homeland. She began establishing an NGO in French called “Agir Pour les Femmes en Situation Précaire (AFESIP),” translated in English “Acting for Women in Distressing Circumstances.” She became co-founder of AFESIP and President of AFESIP Cambodia in Phnom Penh. This organization’s main cause is the rescue, rehabilitation, and reintegration of girls forced into prostitution.
~http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Somaly_Mam
