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the strongest bravest woman in the world
Related to country: Cambodia

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Glamour Magazine Honors Somaly Mam, Vital Voices Global Network Member,

for “Women of the Year 2006” Award


Somaly Mam is the type of heroine that deserves everyone’s admiration. A former child sex slave sold by her family in Cambodia, she escaped the brothel and now devotes her life to saving young girls who suffer from sexual exploitation.

Vital Voices first started working with Somaly in December 2004 when her shelter was attacked by a triad. The ninety one survivors of human trafficking and adult sex workers were removed from the shelter which is run by her organization, AFESIP, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Read more about this incident and Vital Voices’ roundtable at AFESIP in January 2005

For years, Somaly has risked her life to save sexually exploited girls, many of whom have HIV/AIDS. Although she faces obstacles such as government corruption, weak law enforcement and justice system, and limited resources, her persistence and passion support her to carrying on this strenuous path.

For her “mother courage”, Glamour Magazine honored Somaly Mam for “Women of the Year 2006” Award at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Joined by celebrities such as Sandra Bullock, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Queen Latifah, Lisa Ling, Iman, Barbara Walters, Carly Simon, and other honorees, the award was presented by Marianne Pearl, the widow of Daniel Pearl, the Wall Street Journal journalists who was murdered in Pakistan. Read Marianne Pearl’s article about Somaly Mam’s work in Glamour Magazine.

Glamour article on Cambodia and Somaly Mam SEP06.pdf

In her acceptance statement, Somaly said “I don’t know my name, my age, or my parents because I was sold into sex slavery when I was so young. What I am doing is to hope that some day, children and women can live a normal life, like you do, and can smile in my country.”

That evening, deeply moved by Somaly’s work, Queen Latifah and Barbara Walters each pledged to give Somaly’s organization $150,000 US dollars. So far, Somaly’s organization has saved 3,000 girls throughout Southeast Asia.

Read more about Somaly’s organization, AFESIP, www.afesip.org


Vital Voices’ Interview with Somaly Mam

The day after Somaly’s big night, Vital Voices’ Wenchi Yu Perkins interviewed Somaly Mam about her recent work, life, and how she feels about the “glamorous” evening she had the previous day.

Greeted by Somaly in her hotel room in mid-town Manhattan, Somaly exhibited fatigue in her face because of her two-week travel from Cambodia to Europe and the US. “Everyone else is out touring the city but I just want to stay in,” said Somaly, even though this is Somaly's first time in New York.

“I am afraid of seeing people because I am not used to this kind of publicity, glory, and celebrity.” Having received so many awards and so much international recognition for her important work, Somaly still is not used to these parties and celebrations. “I really miss my girls in Cambodia. I feel the happiest being around them. Now I just want to go home and see how they are doing.” “But I understand how important it is for me to travel outside of Cambodia because that’s the only way to receive critical support in order for me to continue my work."

Somaly said just a few months ago, she was so discouraged because her organization, AFESIP, was out of funding and it had been three months that she could not pay her staff a salary. “One of the shelters is closed because we are running out of money.” “I was seriously thinking about giving up. But my daughter said to me, ‘Mummy, please continue AFESIP’ and I just want to work for them.”

So what keeps Somaly going despite all the difficulties at work and in her personal life? “It’s my story” responded Somaly. “Everything I missed as a child, I want to give that to these children.” Somaly’s daughter was recently kidnapped and while she returned home safely, corruption and mafia continues to threaten Somaly and her family’s safety.

When asked about how the Glamour Award is going to impact her work, Somaly simply said “please give awards to other women.” “There are so many great women working in the field in Cambodia but they have not been recognized for their courage and achievements. Please give awards to them, not me.”

Even though Somaly and her organization, AFESIP, has been so successful in saving girls’ lives, she thinks there are still so much room for improvement and so much more to be done. “We need a lot of training to help our staff enhance their professional practice at work. For example, we need to learn how to provide better victim services, how to manage our finance and write good reports to funders, and to market and communicate about our work. We still need a lot of help.”

Somaly’s biography has been published in French in France, Italy, Germany, and Japan. The English version should be available in the UK and the US in early and September 2007 respectively.


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January 9, 2009 | 1:41 PM Comments  0 comments

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