Somaly Mam in Time's 100 Most Influential People

by Amanda Kloer · 2009-05-07 12:00:00 UTC
Topics:

Human trafficking survivor, activist, philanthropist, author, and foundation head Somaly Mam was named to Time Magazine's prestigious 100 Most Influential People list this week.  The Human Trafficking Project shares some of her story.

By the time Mam was 5, the Khmer Rouge controlled Cambodia and had proceeded to kill 1.5 million people as Pol Pot implemented his radical form of communism. Torture, executions and forced labor were widespread. Families fled for safety, and massive internal displacement decimated Cambodian society in the years that followed. Against this backdrop, 12-year-old Mam was sold into sexual slavery by a man who posed as her grandfather. She eventually ended up in a Phnom Penh brothel, beginning a decade of horrific rape and torture. She describes this period of her life simply: "I was dead. I had no affection for anyone."

Today, Mam is an internationally recognized human trafficking activist, tirelessly fighting for trafficked and at-risk youth in Cambodia.  She runs The Somaly Mam Foundation and recently authored her first book, The Road to Innocence.  But even these credentials don't do her heart justice.

I had the opportunity to have dinner with her last year, and something she said at that dinner really struck me.  Here's how the conversation went:

Me: So how many children do you have?

Somaly Mam: 230, right now.

Me: Oh, sorry, I didn't mean the children in your shelter, I meant your children.

Somaly Mam: They are my children.

There are not many people that can leave me speechless, but this woman did.  I could not think of a more worthy recipient of this honor.

Amanda Kloer is a Change.org Editor and has been a full-time abolitionist in several capacities for seven years. Follow her on Twitter @endhumantraffic
PREVIOUS STORY:
MS-13: America's Most Dangerous Gang
NEXT STORY:
Today is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day, how are you going to take action?

COMMENTS (3)

    Comment Policy

    · All fields are required to comment.

    [X]

    Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the campaign on Change.org. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments which, as determined solely in our discretion: (1) are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; (2) include content solely intended to personally attack the campaign creator, (3) are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them; and/or (4) violate our terms of service and/or privacy policy. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion. Please also be advised that: (A) we do not actively curate and/or monitor in any manner whatsoever the comments made on the Change.org platform, and (B) the creator of each campaign on Change.org may remove any comment at her/his/its discretion.