Cambodia remains in US Tier 2 country due to lack of gov't progress in prosecuting human traffickers

2012-06-19
Excerpt from Radio Free Asia

Cambodia

Cambodia, meanwhile, remained a Tier 2 country, based on what the report described as a lack of government progress in prosecuting human traffickers and protecting trafficking victims.

“Endemic corruption at all levels continued to impede anti-trafficking endeavors and local observers believe it to be the cause of impunity afforded to firms engaging in illegal recruitment practices that contribute to trafficking,” the report said.

It also noted that the country’s “weak and corrupt” judicial and law enforcement systems, lengthy legal processes, credible fears of retaliation, and the lack of witness protection and access to resources continued to hinder victims’ willingness to cooperate in cases.

But the State Department acknowledged “significant progress” in the government’s efforts to combat the transnational labor trafficking of Cambodians.

Reported by Joshua Lipes.

Tackling human trafficking [in Cambodia]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpmBV4l077Q

This week's Global Journalist panelists used vastly different methods to fight a modern version of slavery: the global sex trade.

By Rehman Tungekar

KBIA 91.3 (USA)

Guy Jacobson was backpacking in Cambodia, when a group of very young girls aggressively tried to offer him sex for money. After he repeatedly refused, they revealed to him that they would be beaten by the brothel owners if they returned empty-handed.

The appalling experience a decade ago motivated Jacobson to create a non-profit organization -- the Redlight Children Campaign -- and the New York lawyer began producing documentary films about child prostitution in Cambodia. The crews went undercover in brothels using espionage equipment and secret cameras.

Jane Tafel is the executive director of Hagar USA. The religious organization operates in Cambodia, Vietnam and Afghanistan to improve the lives of severely abused women and children.

Mark Morris is a Pulitzer-prize-winning investigative reporter for the Kansas City Star. Morris and his team spent six months investigating the effectiveness of America’s efforts to stop human trafficking.

Stylist seeks to end human trafficking

Teav Mam mentors five girls who were rescued from Cambodia, teaching them how to cut hair as well as enjoying activities like hiking and creating hair adornments. (Kim Palaferri • The Telegraph)

7/13/11
By Laura Newell
Folsom Telegraph staff writer (California, USA)

More than 800,000 people are trafficked annually and 80 percent are women and girls with the average age of 13 years old.

Teav Mam, 33, of Folsom is working with other locals to help stop these statistics.

On July 17, through a one day cut-for-a-cause event, the hairdressing community will be raising money to teach women in developing countries how to cut hair as an alternative to prostitution and human trafficking.

Mam said her difficult life has made this cause a passion for her and helping save these girls is her goal. Mam was born in Cambodia during a genocide. Her parents escaped with her and eventually came to America when she was 7, she said.

Hillary Clinton pledges support for Cambodian rights victims

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton talks to a group of girls during a tour of the Siem Reap Center, a shelter run by AFSEIP that provides rehabilitation,vocational training, and social reintegration for sex trafficking victims, on Sunday, Oct. 31, 2010 in Siem Reap, Cambodia. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool)

October 31, 2010
Radio Australia News

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has visited a rehabilitation centre for victims of people trafficking during her first official visit to Cambodia.

The Secretary of State told the women at the US funded centre, her government would support victims of human rights abuses in Cambodia.

"I am helping you through our government and our ambassador and our government in Washington to help you learn English, to help you learn all kinds of things so that when you leave here you will be able to have your own life," she said.

In Cambodia, Clinton shuns congressional midterm madness, pledges to help end sexual slavery

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (R) greets children during a visit to the AFESIP rehabilitation and vocational training center in Siam Reap October 31, 2010. Clinton's visit to Cambodia is the first by a U.S. Secretary of State since 2003. AFESIP stands for Agir pour les Femmes en Situation Precaire, which means Acting for Women in Distressing Situations. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea 

October 31, 2010
By Matthew Lee (CP)

SIEM REAP, Cambodia - Sitting out the intense political battle back home, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton toured Cambodia's famed 12th-century Angkor Wat temple complex on Sunday and pledged to do more to help end the scourge of sexual slavery on a visit to a rehabilitation centre for child prostitutes.

While her husband and fellow Democrats campaigned frantically ahead of Tuesday's midterm congressional elections, the former first lady and New York senator stayed well above the domestic fray, visiting the northern Cambodian city of Siem Reap while in the midst of a two-week, seven-nation trip to the Asia-Pacific.

The self-proclaimed ex-politician is barred from partisan political activity while serving as America's top diplomat. She made no mention of the fierce fight for control of Congress even as American tourists who supported her 2008 presidential bid shouted "California loves you, Hillary" as she strolled through Angkor Wat.

Clinton, the first secretary of state to visit Angkor Wat, was surrounded by snapshot-taking tourists while making her way around the massive site, admiring bas-relief wall sculpture and the sheer size of the temples. A bevy of security agents and photographers accompanied her.

Earlier Sunday, she met about 50 victims of human trafficking at the U.S.-funded Siem Reap Center where they receive education and vocational training that includes weaving and sewing lessons and, for some, English-language lessons in Colorado.

"I am so proud of you," Clinton told the girls and young women, most of whom were between 17 and 23.

"You motivate me," she said, promising them continued American support to improve their lives.

Clinton listened as one young woman, 25-year old Vann Sina, recounted being abducted at 13 and forced to have sex with 20 to 30 men a day for more than two years before being rescued from a brothel.

"To be a victim is very hard," she said, recalling how she didn't understand what she was meant to do when she was first told to "sleep" with a customer. "I cannot forget. Sometimes I dream and I get very scared."

The Siem Reap Center received a $336,000 grant from the State Department last year to fund its operating costs, and Clinton said she would make sure money continued to flow.

Combatting human trafficking is a pet issue for Clinton and one she will raise with Cambodian officials when she stops in the capital of Phnom Penh on Monday. After leaving Cambodia, Clinton will visit Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Australia. She won't be back at work in Washington until a week after Election Day.

"I wanted to come here today to see you for myself": Hillary Clinton in Cambodia

 U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is greeted by human trafficking victims Van Sina (2nd L) and Somana (3rd R) at the Siem Reap AFESIP rehabilitation and vocational training center October 31, 2010. Clinton's visit to Cambodia is the first by a U.S. Secretary of State since 2003. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

Clinton: US will help end sexual slavery

SIEM REAP, Cambodia, October 31, 2010 (AP) - Pledging to do more to help end the scourge of sexual slavery, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton visited a rescue and rehabilitation center for child prostitutes in northern Cambodia on Sunday.

Before touring the famed 12th century Angkor Wat temple complex, Clinton met with a group of about 50 victims of human trafficking at the U.S.-funded facility in Siem Reap and promised them continued American support.

"I am so proud of you," she told the girls and young women, most of whom are between 17 and 23. They receive an education and vocational training that includes weaving and sewing lessons.

"You motivate me," she said.

Clinton listened as one young woman, Vann Sina, recounted her story of being abducted at 13 and forced to have sex with 20 to 30 men a day for more than two years before being rescued from a brothel.

"To be a victim is very hard," she said, recalling how she did not understand what she was meant to do when she was told to "sleep" with a customer. "I cannot forget. Sometimes I dream and I get very scared."

The Siem Reap center received a $336,0000 grant from the State Department last year to fund its operating costs and Clinton said she would make sure money continued to flow.

"I wanted to come here today to see you for myself," Clinton said.

Clinton, on a tour of northern Cambodia, is about as far away as one can get from the intense political battle going on back home. Her husband and fellow Democrats are campaigning frantically ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections.

A self-proclaimed ex-politician, Clinton is barred from partisan political activity while serving as America's top diplomat.

The former first lady, New York senator and presidential hopeful is in the midst of a two-week, seven-nation tour of the Asia-Pacific. She won't be back at work in Washington until a week after Election Day.

Human rights activist Mu Sochua to speak in Ridgefield, Weston

Mu Sochua (AP)

10/28/2010
Staff Report
Wilton Villager (Connecticut, USA)

RIDGEFIELD -- Mu Sochua, a Cambodian Parliamentarian and human rights activist, is scheduled to speak Nov. 14 in Ridgefield in conjunction with a documentary screening.

As part of the program, Vital Voices will present "REDLIGHT," a documentary exposing the global issue of human trafficking. The film's director, Guy Jacobson, was honored with the U.S. State Department's Global Hero Award in 2008.

Narrated by actress and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lucy Liu, the film focuses on the personal stories of the victims of child sexploitation and two advocates for change: Sochua and grass-roots advocate Somaly Mam. Both have since been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and have won other human rights awards around the world.

Using footage smuggled out of the brothels and harrowing testimonials, "REDLIGHT" follows the plight of several current and former child sex slaves.

"REDLIGHT" will be shown at 4 p.m. Nov. 14 at the Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 East Ridge Road, Ridgefield, followed by a question- and-answer period with Sochua. There will be an opportunity to meet Mu Sochua and filmmaker Guy Jacobson at a VIP reception beginning at 2:30 p.m. at Lounsbury House, 316 Main St., Ridgefield.

Tickets are $100 for the VIP reception and the screening; $30 for the screening only; and $15 for students. Tickets are tax-deductible.

"REDLIGHT" will also be shown at the Seabury Center, 45 Church Lane, Westport, Nov. 13. A dessert reception will be held at 7:30 p.m. Guests will have an opportunity to meet Sochua and Guy Jacobson, and purchase the work of Cambodian artisans. The film will be featured at 8 p.m., followed by a Q&A period with Mu Sochua.

Tickets for the Westport event are $100 for VIP seating and the screening; $30 for all other seats at the screening; and $15 for students. Tickets are tax-deductible.

Sochua is a Member of Parliament in Cambodia and has been an outspoken advocate for human rights for decades.

In 1972, at the age of 18, Sochua's parents put her on a flight out of war-torn Cambodia to protect her from the genocide sweeping the country. That was the last time Sochua saw her parents. Three years later they were exterminated by the Khmer Rouge. She completed her education in France and the United States and returned to her country in 1991 after 18 years in exile, six of them working with refugees along the Cambodian border.

In 1998, she was appointed the first female Minister for Women's Affairs, a position from which she battled against child abuse, violence against women, the exploitation of women workers and human trafficking.

A Member of Parliament since 2008, she has become a leading voice of the opposition against a government that she perceives as a corrupt dictatorship. She was recently threatened with imprisonment for bringing a lawsuit for defamation against the Prime Minister. Sochua continues to work tirelessly and fearlessly, often at grave personal risk, for equal rights, free speech, government transparency and a fair judicial process. She has been the recipient of many awards, including the Vital Voices Global Partnership 2005 Human Rights and Anti-Trafficking Award and has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Proceeds of these events will support Mu Sochua's anti-trafficking and humanitarian work. All contributions, payable to Vital Voices Global Partnership, are tax-deductible. For more information or to order tickets, contact Roberta Cooper at (203) 227-8973 (robertacooper@optonline.net) or Giselle Mazier at (917) 816-7515 (gnamazier@mac.com). Indicate in the respones and on the check which event you will attend. Checks may be sent to Roberta Cooper c/o P.O. Box 3363 Westport, CT 06880.

90 percent of Cambodia prostitutes sold by parents

WATCH: Missionary Ruth Elliott and Daughters of Cambodia Set Women Free in Christ from Sex Trade
- Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

30 August 2010
The Underground

A Christian missionary said recently that 90 percent of prostitutes in Cambodia are sold into this industry by their parents.

Ruth Elliott, a British missionary and head of Daughters of Cambodia, said the young girls feel a need to stay in the sex trade to support their families. Elliott first arrived in Cambodia in 2004, and formed Daughters of Cambodia, which has helped sex trafficking victims for six years, CBN News said.

Elliott says, “They live in the pit of hell. It’s the truth. And they experience horrendous trauma when they come out.” Elliott said God called her to this work when she was only 14 years old, saying, “[God] wanted me to go into the places that were worst and to facilitate healing the broken-hearted and setting the captives free,” CBN News said.

Elliott does her work by entering Cambodia’s brothels and asking the sex victims if they want to change their lives. If they are amenable, she invites them to her day-center which is located within the area, CBN News said.

She said change is possible when the girls learn new ways to earn a living. “We had to start small businesses, which are fair trade businesses, in order for the girls to exit the sex industry. For without another job, it is just impossible for them to leave,” CBN News said.

The girls are also taught important lessons for a healthy domestic life, noting, “Things like domestic violence prevention, conflict resolution skills, budgeting skills, this kind of thing. [Also] drug prevention,” CBN News said.

Daughters of Cambodia can have up to 60 girls at a time per program, who learn new skills to pay for food, rent and other necessities by selling products they make such as fashion accessories, clothes and furnishings locally and for export, CBN News said.

The emotional trauma from having been in the sex industry is also addressed. As a psychologist, Elliott counsels victims and trains counselors for this growing work. She also engages in evangelization, CBN News said.

Her ministry includes brothel owners and pimps noting, “We want everyone in the sex industry to come to our church because we believe in the power of Jesus to change everyone’s life,” CBN News said.

But the girls easily accept Jesus she says, noting, “They have never in their lives experienced love — unconditional love and acceptance. And many of them become Christians as a result of this,” CBN News said.

While the work can be dangerous, Elliott sees God’s protection and faithfulness in that they have never had any problems noting, “I believe the grace of God is on us,” CBN said.

On their website, Daughters of Cambodia posted one girl’s story. She was left by her parents to work as a maid in a wealthy Cambodian family home at the age of 14, but was not paid her salary and was fed twice daily. The husband made sexual advances, forcing her to run away, the website said.

Her parents were working in Thailand so she was left in the streets. A girl she met got her a job in a Karaoke bar, which turned out to be a brothel. In this way, she was coerced into prostitution, the website said.

The girl said, “I had little choice about who I had to have sex with because they were wealthy or threatened me… Customers often made derogatory comments to me; they did not care if I was crying… There was nobody willing to help me and I cried alone every night…I started to think I was crazy. I was often so depressed; I felt I had no worth or value and my life was cheap. I cannot describe the pain,” the website said.

At Daughters she said, “I find comfort and strength, the staff value me, I have close friends and I know many people here love me and care about me. And I can talk to people here if I feel bad. I feel loved,” the website said.

Armed with love and laughter, Granite Bay missionaries take on child sex trade in Cambodia

Students crowd into a classroom to learn English at Rahab's House in Svay Pak, Cambodia. Fourteen members of Granite Bay's Bayside Church spent two weeks this summer working at a former brothel converted into a community center by a Rocklin couple. (All photos: BRYAN PATRICK bpatrick@sacbee.com)
Chang Thy Mean, 24, a former child prostitute rescued by a U.S. nonprofit, now makes $70 a month as a tailor. "I felt my life had no value," she said. "I'm happy now."

Monday, Aug. 16, 2010
By Stephen Magagnini - smagagnini@sacbee.com
The Sacramento Bee (California, USA)

"Police here do not cooperate – they don't like us" Chanta Hem, Cambodian pastor at Rahab's House

SVAY PAK, Cambodia – Two white vans roll up to a converted brothel at 8:30 a.m., and 14 Sacramento-area soldiers of Christ spill out to battle a barrage of physical and spiritual ailments.

They'll minister to pimps, dope peddlers and parents who seem to love alcohol and gambling more than they love their children, whose bodies are sold nightly for as little as $3 – less than the price of a bowl of grapes.

Waves of those children and their brothers, sisters and cousins inundate the missionaries with hugs, smiles and laughter. Little girls fly into their arms to be held.

"This hell hole is now a place of joy!" exclaimed Barbara Wilson, a trauma counselor leading the team from Bayside Church in Granite Bay. "Three years ago there was nothing here – now there are 150 kids."

The Bayside missionaries – teachers, computer experts, moms, a nurse and a respiratory therapist who each paid $3,500 to get here – spent 14 days this summer at Rahab's House, a former brothel named after a biblical prostitute who gave sanctuary to Israeli spies. A Rocklin couple have converted the brothel into a nonprofit community center, which now houses a free medical clinic, school, church and kids club.

"My main mission is to use love as a weapon, because none of the other methods are working," said Gilbert Acevedo, a beefy, tattooed youth pastor who pumps iron with young men – some of them pimps – at the Lord's Gym across the street from Rahab's House.

Wilson said a pimp who entered Acevedo's "Svay Pak Strong Man" contest promised not to sell girls under 18.

The slow transformation of Svay Pak from the pedophile capital of Cambodia into a fulcrum of hope was launched by Don and Bridget Brewster, who moved from Rocklin to Cambodia in 2005 to save the children after seeing a TV special on child sex slaves here.

Their nonprofit, Agape International Missions, now comprises Rahab's House, the Lord's Gym, a cafe and bakery that employs former sex workers, and the Agape Restoration Center – the initial shelter they created in Phnom Penh for 120 girls rescued from Cambodian brothels. The center has a pool, a school, a dormitory and house moms.

In 2007, the Brewsters trained their sights on Svay Pak – a slum of about 5,000 people six miles north of Phnom Penh, where girls as young as 3 are for sale.

The couple started their ministry there in a brothel that had been closed after two girls died in the "virgin room" and several others died of AIDS, Bridget Brewster said. The back door is cemented shut, and the rooms look like cells, but the building now shelters rescued teens.

A five-story brothel was under construction next door, but the Brewsters partnered with the Ratanak Foundation of Canada to convert it to Rahab's House.

"This was designed to be the best little whorehouse in Svay Pak," said Bridget Brewster, who runs Rahab's House.

Children flock to the kids club to play games with the Bayside team, make Play-Doh elephants, take guitar lessons and learn songs, computer skills, English and Bible stories.

"It's amazing how much you can do with just smiles and laughter," said Michele Dawson, one of the missionaries from Bayside.

Sex trade persists

But at night, many of the children still are sold for sex, said Don Brewster.

The sex trade has created a climate of abuse, he said. Before the Sacramento team arrived, two 12-year-old boys in Svay Pak confessed to raping a 10-year-old Vietnamese girl after watching pornography on a cell phone, the Phnom Penh Post reported. Police did not charge the boys because they are under 14, the newspaper reported.

The girl is now at Agape Restoration Center.

"Police here do not cooperate – they don't like us," said Chanta Hem, the Cambodian pastor at Rahab's House who translates for the missionaries.

Before the Brewsters and other missionaries began to shut down brothels, the pimps paid off police every morning, Hem said.

At least three of Hem's 31 disciples – Cambodian youth who volunteer 40 hours a week for Agape – were sold into prostitution by their parents. Others were raped.

A foreigner pays $300 to $3,000 for a virgin depending upon how pretty she is, Hem said.

Nearly every family in town has sold their girls, Hem said. And traffickers bring more girls bought or stolen from families in rural Vietnam.

"They love money more than the kid," he said. "For gambling, alcohol, drugs."

Cambodia has strong anti-trafficking laws. Don Brewster said he knows of 15 mothers in prison for selling their daughters. "But the traffickers don't get sent to prison, and neither do the fathers," he said.

For $10, some village leaders will change a family birth book to make a girl 16, the legal age of consent, Brewster said. In his office on the top floor of Rahab's House overlooking a field of garbage ringed with clotheslines running from corrugated shacks, Brewster produced a map indicating 11 brothels "that are holding pens for pre-pubescent girls," he said. "There's a group of us who go out and confront pedophiles."

Cambodian authorities, with the FBI and nongovernmental organizations, occasionally catch U.S. pedophiles. Five girls the Brewsters helped rescue testified in Los Angeles against Michael Pepe, a former U.S. Marine convicted in 2008 of molesting seven girls while working part time as a professor at a Cambodian university.

Cambodia is 98 percent Buddhist, and monks are often afraid to take on traffickers. Luis CdeBaca, the State Department's top official in the war on trafficking, said Christian missions are working effectively with Cambodian authorities.

He has been to Svay Pak twice. "I remember a feeling of hope," he said. "That this is not insoluble, that there are Cambodians and foreign folks who want this to change."

The efforts to transform

The strongest weapons in the Brewsters' arsenal are love and good will.

A pimp who exercised at the Lord's Gym daily said he "was raping his own 5- and 9-year-old sisters and the police were doing nothing, so we got custody," Don Brewster said. "We told him, 'We hate what you do, but we want to be your friend.'

"Then at church one Sunday, he stands up and says 'I know what I'm doing is wrong and I'm not going to do it anymore.' We got him a $50-a-month construction job, and he's doing OK."

One 100-degree day during the Bayside missionaries' visit, a cool young woman in a red pantsuit and Dalmatian-print shirt appeared at Rahab's House to design new curtains.

Chang Thy Mean, 24, a former prostitute, learned tailoring at Agape Restoration Center and now makes Hawaiian shirts that Don Brewster wears.

Mean previously sold cakes on the streets of Phnom Penh for 7,000 Cambodian riels a day – $1.65. "It wasn't enough to eat," she said. So at 15, she sold herself in Svay Pak.

A foreigner in his 50s paid $300 for her virginity. "I screamed in pain, and he stopped," she said. "The next time I prepared myself."

Mean sent about $400 home monthly, "but I don't know where the money's going." After five years Mean was rescued by International Justice Mission, a U.S. nonprofit, and sent to the Agape Restoration Center.

"I felt my life had no value. I never thought about my future," she said.

Volunteers at Agape taught her to sew – and to dream. "My dream is to be married, have two kids and have my own shop," said Mean. She is now engaged and makes $70 a month.

At the Bloom Cafe and Bakery, 20 Agape girls earn $120 a month. They recently made a sugar house for the Australian Embassy.

Girls as young as 5 are brought to Agape Restoration Center. Every two months, seven girls visit their moms in prison and take them food and shampoo. "I want to do a class on parenting and marriage," said Bridget Brewster.

Several hundred Cambodians show up daily for free medical care provided by registered nurse Allison Seay and her husband, respiratory therapist Steve Seay of the Bayside team.

"They have aches, pains, high blood pressure, really weak bones, females have vaginal issues," Allison Seay said.

They leave with vitamins, medicine and an invitation to church on Sunday.

Missionaries change, too

At the Bayside Christian team's 7 a.m. service on the roof of the Star Royal Hotel, Steve Seay prayed, "Give us the strength to do our best, and may the seeds that we plant here have a ripple effect."

The Bayside team returned home with a plaque noting their service to the people of Cambodia. The team had visited brick factories, bringing rice, face masks, sandals and candy to emaciated 13-year-olds who look 7.

"In America we're so spoiled," said Roma Moffard, the team's co-leader. "And here they're so joyful with what they have."

Wilson said, upon her return, that in the two weeks in Cambodia she formed relationships with the children and realized she could give them hope.

"It's definitely changed my perspective on what I want to do with my life," said Wilson. "My idea of retirement right now is what I can do to serve people around the world."

Her next stop: India in November.
---------
Bee researchers Pete Basofin and Sheila A. Kern contributed to this report.

Rights group urges Cambodia to end sex worker abuse

PHNOM PENH, Tuesday 20 July 2010 (AFP) - Sex workers in Cambodia are routinely unlawfully arrested and taken by police to government detention centres where they face beatings, rape and extortion, a rights group said Tuesday.

New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said that interviews with more than 90 female and transgender sex workers in capital Phnom Penh and three Cambodian provinces found they faced regular abuse by authorities.

"For far too long, police and other authorities have unlawfully locked up sex workers, beaten and sexually abused them, and looted their money and other possessions," said Elaine Pearson, acting Asia director at Human Rights Watch.

"The Cambodian government should order a prompt and thorough independent investigation into these systematic violations of sex workers' human rights and shut down the centres where these people have been abused."

The group's 76-page report said police beat the prostitutes with their fists, sticks, wooden handles and electric shock batons and, in several instances, raped them while they were in detention.

All reported paying bribes or having money stolen by police officers, the report added, while they were held in dismal conditions.

The Cambodian government began prosecuting a new "Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation" in 2008 after years of pressure from the United States to clamp down on sex trafficking.

Since then authorities have conducted brothel raids and street sweeps, but rights groups complain the new law has in many ways worsened exploitation and HRW said police at times use the law to justify harrassment of sex workers.

"The government should go back to the drawing board -- starting first by consulting extensively with sex workers and other groups -- before continuing to implement the provisions which have been abused by police," Pearson said.

Spectacular Sold-Out Premier of Anti-Child Trafficking Film in NYC

Daughter Malika with the human rights activist, politician and mother Mu Sochua.

June 27, 2010
Jim Luce.Thought Leaders and Global Citizens
The Huffington Post

Cambodian Parliament Member Mu Sochua received a standing ovation from the sold-out, standing room-only crowd at the red carpet world premier of REDLIGHT last week. Produced and narrated by UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lucy Liu, the film left many stunned and some in tears. It is that wrenching.

"I am not a victim in Cambodia, but a survivor of Cambodia!," Sochua told the guests present. "In the darkest recess of human trafficking, there is hope!" The film featured the work of both Sochua and Somaly Mam, forming a narrative of the children they have helped out of the pits of exploitation - such as Reena and Sokha.

Deftly blending horror and compassion, hope and futility, REDLIGHT is the second film in a trilogy that is changing the dynamics of child trafficking globally. Filmmaker Guy Jacobson has mastered the emotional edge of sexual slavery and manages to bring it to us in our sterile lives so that we get it - and want to stop it. The photography of the film is superb, with the breathtaking beauty of Cambodia juxtaposed with the squalid conditions of the children forced into the country's unspeakable brothels.

Rarely does a film have such in-depth access to the characters it follows. REDLIGHT weaves together the touching stories of its subjects into an inspirational journey for the audience. It is a true accomplishment in filmmaking.

The narration by Lucy Liu is familiar enough so that we are able to handle the unfamiliar. The quality and sensitivity of the film assures that its message will resound with audiences around the world as it is sure to win awards from Cannes to Sundance. If you chose to see only one documentary this year, make sure it is REDLIGHT.

More amazing than the film is the dangers Guy Jacobson overcame to film it in the shadow of the mafia, for whom human life holds no sanctity. He continues to risk his life daily fighting to expose and sabotage organized crime's most lucrative business.

Guy Jacobson, along with Lucy Liu, Mu Sochua, Somaly Mam, and child slavery expert
Kevin Bales, are leading advocates to end child trafficking.

After the film, Sochua told the many gathered, "The movie was so real I could smell the brothel and feel the T.B. in the hospital. My Cambodia is this film." Sochua is a politician and a human rights activist. "I am a member of the Cambodian parliament - a member of the Opposition - who has been stripped of my immunity," she told the hushed audience. She represents the Sam Rainsy Party.

Guy Jacobson spoke after the film with Mu Sochua, UNICEF Global Chief
of Child Protection Dr. Susan Bissell, and Israeli actress Adi Ezroni.

Sochua has refused to pay a frivolous fine imposed on her by the corrupt court there for 'defaming' the Prime Minister because she sued him for calling her a whore. "When I go back, I might be put in jail."

"My goal is to be re-elected and continue the fight for justice," she told us. "Justice! Hope!," she reminded us. "Justice is my own pursuit," Sochua said.

Guy Jacobson is a passionate filmmaker who understand child trafficking - and exposes it.

As I wrote last week, not often does a filmmaker present both an untenable social problem - and its solution. Guy Jacobson has done that. As filmmaker, former banker and lawyer, Guy's past and present reflected much of the audience comprised from the top ranks of the arts, finance and law. LexisNexis is the film's major corporate sponsor.

LexisNexis' involvement made a deep impression on many of the film viewers. "LexisNexis is to be commended for their support. It is wonderful that they have put their resources behind such an important problem," Dr. Lucie Lapovsky stated. Roberta Cooper added, "It is critical that corporations take a role in this international problem, as has LexisNexis, among others in the travel and business community. Their important work should be publicized and praised widely."

Mu Sochua is empathetic to the stories these girls, one a victim and the other her big sister.

The brilliant film REDLIGHT is shown from the perspective of two Cambodian women opposed to childhood sexual slavery. One, Sochua, and the other Somaly Mam, a woman who escaped the brothels to dedicate her life to freeing others. Child trafficking expert Kevin Bales, author of Ending Slavery and President of Free the Slaves, is also interviewed in the film. See the film's trailer on Vimeo.

Filmmaker Guy Jacobson and his team have made a gut-wrenching plea to end child trafficking.

The deeply moving film points out that staggering statistic that 2.5 million children aged 18 months to 18 years are exploited for their young bodies each year. They can be raped 20 - 30 times a day, and up to half of them will die from shock, torture, drugs, and/or AIDS. But these numbers are difficult to grasp. The film also shows you a few real children and tells their tales. That anyone can get.

I interviewed many audience members after the Premiere. Dr. Lucie Lapovsky of Lapovsky Consulting told me:

Child trafficking is a complicated issue and I certainly do not have the solution. Clearly, traffickers should be prosecuted and not granted any leniency. Certainly, the film left me with the feeling that the economic problems in Cambodia exacerbate the situation.

The brothels should be outlawed or there should at least be aggressive enforcement to make sure that there are not children involved. Parents should be educated about what can happen to their children when they sell them.

I hope we can all be helpful in eradicating this terrible problem of child sex trafficking and can help make Cambodia a truly democratic country.

A red carpet premier in NYC is a million miles away from children forced into sex - or is it?

Roberta Cooper attended the Premier and told me after:

The 'solution' lies in a multi-pronged, coordinated effort that includes the police and the judiciary and the press. There should be consequences for the patrons of the trafficked women and girls. One area that the film did not focus on is girls and women who are transported to other countries, including the United States. We need international sanctions and severe consequences for the perpetrators as well as assistance for the victims. United Nations initiatives are important as well.

I did see guy's other film Holly. I thought both films were excellent, but REDLIGHT affected me more. It had the narrative elements of Holly but was a documentary.

Particularly important is Sochua's work -- and also that of Somaly Mam -- to give the victims a place in their communities, counseling, and training in work through which they can become economically self-sufficient. It is very difficult for the rescued girls to overcome the stigmas placed on them by their own culture.

REDLIGHT is the second in Guy's trilogy, known as the K11 Project. Holly was the first in 2007, the story of a 12-year old prostitute who captures the jaded heart of a foreigner living in Cambodia who in turn goes out of his way to rescue her from the criminal element that controls her. Holly premiered at the United Nations, with honorary committee members including Susan Sarandon and Hillary Clinton.

The main theater was completely full, and another audience watched from the adjacent theater.

The REDLIGHT Children Campaign originally aimed at pressuring governments to enact or amend legislation to address this issue more effectively and allocate more resources towards enforcement of laws. This has proven to be difficult. Now, in addition to the original strategy, Guy wants to make it more difficult and costly for perpetrators to sexually abuse children. REDLIGHT Children has partnered with its sponsor LexisNexis to create both an international case law database for trafficking, and a trafficking offenders' database to assist lawmakers and prosecutors.

"REDLIGHT" director Guy Jacobson with me and John Lee at the premiere in New York City.

Following this superb film I know I cannot answer one question: Why has the United States and Somalia not signed the United Nations Convention of the Rights of Children (CRC)? As founder of Orphans International Worldwide (OIWW), I demand that our own nation takes responsibility for the lives of the children whose innocence, safety - and often lives - have been so terribly compromised. Mr. President, we owe this to these defenseless children.

For further issues, facts and the rule of law, see LexisNexis website. All photos by Arthur Eisenberg (Arthur@nycArthur.com).

Mu Sochua to be guest speaker at the Red Carpet Screening of REDLIGHT in New York City

REDLIGHT Trailer from jillian selsky on Vimeo.

The World Premier Red-Carpet Screening & Fundraising Event of "Redlight" the movie - NYC

You are cordially invited to: The World Premier Red Carpet Screening of highly acclaimed “REDLIGHT” Monday, June 21st 2010 at Sva Theater, New York City, 6:00 PM and 9:00 PM screenings SVA Theatre, 333 West 23rd Street, New York City.

Hosted by:

• Congresswomen Carolyn Maloney
• Ambassador Mark Lagon
• Ambassador Swanee Hunt
• Cécilia Attias
• Ashley Judd
• Cindi Leive
• Ron Livingston
• Lauren Bush
• Julia Ormond
• Petra Nemcova
• Elizabeth Berkley
• Greg Lauren

Please join us for the Red-Carpet World Premier Screening and Fundraising Event of Redlight on Monday, June 21st 2010, at the Sva Theater, located at 333 West 23rd Street in New York City. This special evening will be a multi-pronged event with two screenings offered.

Join us at 6:00 PM for the Official World Premier Red-Carpet Screening with limited tickets open to the public and 9:00 PM for the general public screening. Both screenings will be followed by a Q&A session featuring, Nobel Peace Prize nominee Mu Sochua, and Filmmakers Guy Jacobson and Adi Ezroni who both won the prestigious State Department’s Tip Report Global Hero Award for their work in combating human trafficking.

As a VIP guest, please join us for the VIP reception at the Cue Gallery, located nearby at 511 West 25th Street after the first screening. After the second screening, please join us for beverages in the Sva reception lobby. The proceeds from this event will go towards two nonprofit 501(c)(3), anti-trafficking organizations, RedLight Children and Restore NYC, both working tirelessly in the fight against human slavery.

6:00 PM for the Official World Premier Red Carpet Screening (with limited tickets open to the public)

Red Carpet VIP Tickets - $1000 (As a VIP guest please join us for the VIP reception at CUE Gallery, 511 West 25th Street.)

Red Carpet General Public Tickets - $100 (with open bar at the After-Party from 11:00-12:00 midnight at Juliette Supper Club at 538 W. 21st St. (between 10th Ave & West St.)

9:00 PM for the Red Carpet Premier Screening open to the General Public

Red Carpet General Public Tickets - $50 (with open bar at the After-Party from 11:00-12:00 midnight at Juliette Supper Club at 538 W. 21st St. (between 10th Ave & West St.) Please see below for a full outline of the evening:

First Screening at 6:00 PM:
5:00 PM – Press arrives 5:30-6:30 PM – Red-Carpet and Step & Repeat Photo Opportunities
6:30 PM - Introduction by Keynote Speaker (TBD)
6:45 PM- Screening of the film “Redlight” (1 hour, 10 minutes)
8:00 PM- Q&A with Filmmakers Guy, Jacobson and Adi Ezroni, & Mu Sochua
8:30 -11:00 PM – VIP reception @ The Cue Gallery, 511 West 25th Street (8 min. walk)

Second Screening at 9:00 PM:
9:00 PM- Red-Carpet and Step & Repeat Photo Opportunities
9:30 PM – Short introduction – Faith Huckel, Executive Director of Restore NYC
9:35 PM – Screening of the film “REDLIGHT” (1 hour, 10 minutes)
10:45 PM – Q&A with Filmmakers Guy, Jacobson and Adi Ezroni, Mu Sochua
11:00-12:00 Midnight- Reception in main lobby

About the Film:
Redlight Trailer from Jillian Selsky on Vimeo . UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lucy Liu produced and narrated Redlight, an inspiring and powerful feature documentary about child sexploitation. Filmed over a four year period, REDLIGHT focuses on the personal stories of the victims and two remarkable advocates for change: grass-roots activist Somaly Mam and politician Mu Sochua. Both have since been nominated for the Noble Peace Prize and won other numerous human rights awards around the world.

For more information about the film, visit http://www.redlightthemovie.com

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO VIEW CAMPAIGN ARCHIVE

Royce Disappointed by Trafficking in Persons Report Designation of Cambodia

US Rep. Ed Royce (R-California) at the lectern

Today, the U.S. Department of State released its 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report, a document that catalogues abuses of modern day slavery throughout the world

(From PoliticalNews.me)
Washington, Jun 14

"Having heard scores of accounts from NGO’s and from eyewitnesses, the Cambodian government’s corruption often hampers trafficking investigations, and at worse, covers up the problem. Rewarding Cambodia, as the State Department Report does, only hampers efforts to curtail human trafficking. I’d like to see my colleagues join me in pressing this issue by cosponsoring my resolution, H.Res.820," said Royce.

Today, the U.S. Department of State released its 2010 Trafficking in Persons Report, a document that catalogues abuses of modern day slavery throughout the world. The Report’s cataloging of abuses – and the categorizing of countries - can bring about change in some countries; the threat of sanctions on the most severe violators is also an important tool.

"While this report brings much needed attention to the plight of some of the world’s most marginalized women and children, I regret that it appears that some countries like Cambodia have gotten a pass," said Royce.

Citing it as a destination country for commercial sexual exploitation, the State Department had listed Cambodia as a "Tier 2 Watch List" country in its previous report. Despite an abundance of evidence that these problems still exist, Cambodia was upgraded one position. This will prevent automatic relegation to the lowest category (Tier 3) if next year it is once again listed as a Tier 2 Watch List country.

"The 2010 report cites Cambodian children being trafficked to Thailand and Vietnam for forced labor, the sale of virgin girls ‘continues to be a serious problem,’ and a significant number of Asian and foreign men ‘travel to Cambodia to engage in child sex tourism.’ Furthermore, the report cites that police and judicial officials are both ‘directly and indirectly involved in trafficking.’ And under these conditions, the State Department saw fit to upgrade Cambodia? We need to be sending a much stronger message that these forms of modern day slavery and unacceptable," said Royce.

Following a Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission hearing entitled "Human Rights and the Rule of Law in Cambodia" held last year, Rep. Ed Royce introduced a House Resolution – H.Res.820 - condemning Cambodian corruption and the role it plays in furthering human trafficking.

"Having heard scores of accounts from NGO’s and from eyewitnesses, the Cambodian government’s corruption often hampers trafficking investigations, and at worse, covers up the problem. Rewarding Cambodia, as the State Department Report does, only hampers efforts to curtail human trafficking. I’d like to see my colleagues join me in pressing this issue by cosponsoring my resolution, H.Res.820," said Royce.

Rep. Royce is a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and is an active member of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.

Congresswoman Examines Cambodia’s Sex Trade

Sisters, Reps. Linda Sanchez, D-Calif., left, and Loretta Sanchez, D-Calif, pose during a re-enactment of their swearing-in ceremony on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Photo: AP)

In an exclusive interview with VOA Khmer, US Rep. Loretta Sanchez, a Democratic congresswoman from California said she had wanted to look into the issues of human trafficking, especially sex trafficking.

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer
Washington Monday, 19 April 2010

“Cambodia is a destination, that means that Westerners, including US citizens, go to Cambodia for the sex trade. Mostly because they can afford it—you know, because people are poor there—they use their money to buy in particular children and young women…to have sex with.”

US Rep. Loretta Sanchez, a Democratic congresswoman from California, recently returned from a fact-finding trip to Cambodia. In an exclusive interview with VOA Khmer, Sanchez said she had wanted to look into the issues of human trafficking, especially sex trafficking.

“Cambodia is a destination,” she said. “That means that Westerners, including US citizens, go to Cambodia for the sex trade. Mostly because they can afford it—you know, because people are poor there—they use their money to buy in particular children and young women…to have sex with.”

In its attempt to curtail the crime, the US has helped Cambodia strengthen its laws, she said.

“We have helped Cambodia to make its judicial system better, so that it can in fact prosecute people,” she said. “We have put in an [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] unit and put in our immigration people to train [the authorities], to show them the signs for when these people come into Cambodia.”

The US also has officials from the Department of Homeland Security working with border and immigration authorities, as well as assistants to help the judiciary and court system.

The US also has an extradition treaty with Cambodia that helps bring perpetrators of sex crimes back to the US for prosecution if they do not face trial in Cambodia, she said.

“And we have investigators there,” she said. “We have people helping the local police be trained so we catch these people [beforehand], as they are trying to come into the country.”

Sanchez said the US was serious about prosecutions and would not attempt to alleviate sentences for US citizens found guilty of sex crimes.

Sanchez has worked on human trafficking issues at the US-Mexico border, as well as in the communities of Cambodians, Filipinos and Vietnamese in Orange Country, Calif., which she represents.

“So it is a big issue for me, an issue that I am passionate about, and I knew that there was a lot of this going on with respect to Cambodia, so I wanted to go to Cambodia on this trip,” she said.

Sanchez also looked into the US military’s role in the country and the region, demining operations and counterterrorism.

Man goes undercover to combat child sex slavery

February 9, 2010
By Leif Coorlim, CNN Producer

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NGO: As many as 30 percent of sex workers in Cambodia are children
• U.S. official: Cambodia not making enough progress to combat trafficking
• Aaron Cohen helps free trafficking victims around the world
• One girl he rescued dies; family says death due to impact of sex work

Phnom Penh, Cambodia (CNN) -- Aaron Cohen first met Jonty Thern and her older sister, Channy, in 2005 while singing in a karaoke bar in Battambang, Cambodia. He has come back to see them every year since.

The California native often schedules his trips for November, the month when Cambodians celebrate the Bonn Om Teuk water festival, marking the end of the rainy season.

"The whole country comes together for boat races. Hundreds of thousands of people descend on the waterfront and it's filled with colors and flags," said Cohen. "You know my thoughts about the water festival always include Jonty, because she and her sister would get a day pass during the festival."

There was a smile on his face when he started the sentence, but by the time he had finished, it was gone.

Abolishing slavery

Cohen is a human rights advocate. He founded a charity called AbolishSlavery.org last year, but his work freeing victims of human trafficking began more than a decade ago.

At 6'5" (195 cm) with long, black hair, he stands out in almost every crowd. But Cohen often goes undercover to obtain the information needed for law enforcement officials to conduct raids and make arrests.

His trips have taken him around the world, from Sudan to Nicaragua to Israel. But, he says, in Southeast Asia the problem is especially bad.

"I would rank Cambodia right up there with India as one of the worst places in the world for sex-trafficking."

A bad problem getting worse

According to the NGO, End Child Prostitution, Abuse and Trafficking (ECPAT), as many as one-third of all sex workers in Cambodia are children. Government entities, including the U.S. State Department, are pressuring countries like Cambodia to do more to stop the modern-day slavery epidemic.

"We are making major strides in the fight against human trafficking. But it is a major problem, we know that," said Ambassador-at-Large Luis CdeBaca, who leads the State Department's Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons. "You have estimates as to the number of people in servitude worldwide and it's anywhere from 12.3 million on the low end as cited by UN's International Labour Organization -- to as many as 27 million people on the high end. That's a number coming from the research done by (the aid organization) Free the Slaves. But 12.3 million is a baseline number that everybody agrees that there are at least that many people in forced labor, and that's far too many."

In its comprehensive 2009 Trafficking in Persons Report, the State Department put Cambodia on its Tier 2 Watch List. The ranking means the Cambodian government does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking, but is making an effort to do so.

"[In Cambodia] the number of victims is increasing and the number of prosecutions has gone down from the previous year," says CdeBaca. "The report shows that despite the overall effort, the government has not shown enough progress in convicting and punishing human trafficking offenders or protecting trafficking victims."

Cambodia is categorized as a destination country for foreign child sex tourists, with increasing reports of Asian men traveling to Cambodia in order to have sex with underage virgin girls. The State Department report states a significant proportion of trafficking victims in Cambodia are ethnic Vietnamese women and girls who are forced into prostitution in brothels and karaoke bars.

A chance encounter

Jonty Thern's short life could be a case study for that assessment. Jonty's family immigrated to Cambodia from Vietnam shortly after the Vietnam War.

Faced with gripping poverty and a debt, Jonty's mother sold her daughter, who was 10-years-old at the time, to a person on Cambodia's border with Thailand.

That person told her mother Jonty would be selling flowers and candy to customers in bars and nightclubs. It was only later, the mother says, that she learned while there, Jonty would be repeatedly raped and beaten.

After three years of physical and sexual abuse, Jonty was released by her captors and allowed to return home to Battambang. Soon after, she and her sister willingly went to work at a karaoke bar to help the family pay off their debt, according to her parents.

The scenario in which Cohen describes meeting Jonty Thern, then 13-years-old, is as appalling as it is prevalent.

"I was working as an undercover sex vice," Cohen said. "I was posing as a sex tourist, going from karaoke bar to karaoke bar, massage parlor to massage parlor, looking for underage workers, to see if I could get them on camera soliciting me for sex."

As evidenced in the State Department report, it is a poorly-kept secret in Cambodia that many of these establishments are also operating brothels.

"I went to a number of karaokes and about my second or third karaoke of the night and I immediately notice this one really young looking girl. I requested Jonty and her sister and a group of other girls," Cohen said.

"In these bars, the girls are told to drink as much as they can, because they'll charge you for the beers. So this girl comes in and I noticed, man, she downed that beer in like 2 seconds. She seemed to be having a good time, she didn't seem unhappy or anything. But here she is nonetheless, a 13-year-old girl in a brothel drinking 10 beers in the time that I drank two," he added.

He said he invited several friends who work at a nearby victims' shelter to come join him. They posed as partiers as well, until Cohen felt comfortable to ask the manager an important question.

"After the girls began to dance and sing, I asked the mamasan what more can I get besides karaoke and so then she says 'well, for sex it's $50.'"

Cohen used the solicitation video from that night, recorded on a cell phone camera, to provide police with the information they needed to raid the karaoke brothel.

More than a dozen girls, including Jonty and her sister, Channy, were freed that night and sent to live in a victim's shelter, where they received counseling, care and an education.

Final Respects

Cohen's most recent trip to see Jonty and Channy in Cambodia was not a happy reunion. It was a trip planned so that he could say goodbye to one of them.

Three days before arriving in Phnom Penh for the water festival, Cohen and Channy, along with Channy's mother, spent the morning in an 8th century pagoda in Siem Reap, watching as monks conducted an ancient funeral ceremony. They were transferring Jonty Thern's ashes into a marble urn.

Jonty died of liver failure at age 17. Her family claims it was the result of years of alcohol and drug abuse she was subjected to while working first in the nightclubs as a 10-year-old, and then later in the karaoke bars.

"The ashes of my goddaughter are the symbol of why we have to do this. This doesn't have to happen. These girls do not have to be enslaved," Cohen said.

"We tried our best with Jonty and we failed because we lost her. But if there's meaning in her death, the meaning is that there is more work to be done. When I'm in that karaoke now, or when I'm in that massage parlor, she's my little angel. She's watching over me and she's protecting me," he added.

That evening, after watching the festival's fireworks display and saying goodnight to Channy, Cohen strapped an undercover watch camera to his wrist, and went to a karaoke bar.

Human Trafficking Survivors Train Cambodian Police and Government Officials

Cambodian human trafficking survivors will work with the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) and the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT) Task Force to eradicate human trafficking.

"The power of these public-private partnerships can be seen in the eyes of the young women who escape the human sex slave industry and become advocates for change."

(PRWEB) February 1, 2010 -- Cambodian human trafficking survivors will work with the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking (UNIAP) and the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT) Task Force to eradicate human trafficking.

The survivors, part of the Somaly Mam Foundation’s Voices for Change (VFC) program, will train police and government officials on laws and issues related to sex trafficking and forced labor in Cambodia.

The training will focus on four Cambodian provinces -- Pailin, Battambang, Kampong Cham, and Takeo. The survivors will help participants better understand Cambodian anti-trafficking laws and the need for compliance with the Rule of Law. The training will also raise awareness of the underlying issues that lead to human trafficking and the specific needs of trafficking victims. The survivors will both lead the training sessions and help monitor and evaluate progress in the area after the training concludes.

A public service initiative will complement the training courses in each area. Two television and 24 radio talk shows are already committed to scheduling programs in 2010 that raise awareness of sexual exploitation and human rights issues in Cambodia. Voices for Change participants will help the stations create programs on topics such as trafficking for sexual and labor exploitation, child sex tourism, safe migration, new anti-trafficking laws, and victim assistance.

William Livermore, Executive Director of the Somaly Mam Foundation, says that programs like Voices for Change are perfect examples of Public-Private sector partnerships -- governments, corporations and NGO’s working together to address society's needs. “The Somaly Mam Foundation is proud to be able to partner with the United Nations, our corporate sponsor LexisNexis, and the Cambodian Government on such an important program,” Livermore said. “The power of these public-private partnerships can be seen in the eyes of the young women who escape the human sex slave industry and become advocates for change.”

About Human Trafficking:
Human trafficking, a multi-billion dollar industry, is the fastest growing criminal enterprise in the world. With over one million women and children sold into sexual slavery each year, it is a global crisis. South East Asia is particularly hard hit by the effects of this crime. Sexual tourism and a lack of enforcement result in the victimization of thousands of young women and children every year.

About the Somaly Mam Foundation:
The Somaly Mam Foundation (www.somaly.org) is a non-profit public charity committed to ending modern-day slavery around the world.

Founded by sexual slavery survivor, Somaly Mam, the foundation supports rescue, shelter and rehabilitation programs across Southeast Asia. The Somaly Mam Foundation also runs global awareness and advocacy campaigns that shed light on sexual slavery and involve the public and governments in the fight to abolish slavery.

About the Voices for Change Program:
The Somaly Mam Foundation provides interested and qualified survivors from its rehabilitation program the opportunity to help eradicate human trafficking.

Voices for Change (VFC) is designed to give survivors an opportunity to help themselves by helping others, and to provide a platform for their voices to be heard in the courts and by the public. The organization's vision is that a new generation of leaders in the fight against human trafficking will arise from those who have experienced the pain of slavery.

Program participants join legal training seminars and courageously share their stories with magistrates, judges, and other members of the legal community to help them better understand sex slavery. Survivors who have undergone rescue, recovery, education, and reintegration also provide critical services to fellow victims of human trafficking. VFC members speak with new victims brought to the centers, complete intake forms, teach classes, share life skills training, and provide love and support.

About the LexisNexis Rule of Law Initiative:
LexisNexis combats human trafficking by applying our resources, people, solutions, legal expertise and direct financial support to combat human trafficking wherever it exists.

LexisNexis sponsors the Somaly Mam Foundation and Agir Pour les Femmes en Situation Précaire (AFESIP), or Acting for Women in Distressing Situations. LexisNexis also sponsors special events around the world for government and legal professionals in order to raise awareness of the existence of human trafficking.

Freeing women from poverty, violence

Friday, January 8, 2010
By Mindelle Jacobs
Winnipeg Sun (Canada)

Occasionally, an extraordinary book comes along with the potential to galvanize people into reaching beyond their own little spheres to help someone impoverished elsewhere in the world.

That book is Half the Sky, by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, a passionate clarion call to help stop the brutal oppression of females in the developing world.

Undoubtedly, you have read plenty of chilling statistics on the extent of the human rights violations girls and women suffer. But nothing you have read can possibly prepare you for the shocking, gut-wrenching, yet ultimately uplifting true stories in Half the Sky.

There is Srey, a Cambodian girl who is forced by gangsters to work in a brothel in Malaysia. When she escapes, a police officer sells her to a trafficker who hands her over to a Thai whorehouse.

In India, Meena is kidnapped and enslaved in a brothel for a dozen years. And in case you think all the villains in this book are men, the owner of the brothel is a woman who prostituted her own daughters.

Thirteen-year-old Woin-eshet, in Ethiopia, is kidnapped and raped in a rural area where that's what men do to the girls they want to marry.

There is Dina, from the eastern Congo, who is gang raped by five men who then shove a stick inside her. The stick causes a fistula, or hole, in her tissues and leaves her incontinent and paralyzed.

Make no mistake. Half the Sky isn't unrelentingly grim, even though it chronicles the brutally creative ways women are abused in the Third World. Aid organizations and individuals determined to make a difference are helping the oppressed women of the world one female at a time.

Srey now sells shirts, hats and costume jewelry in a little stall. Meena is free and working as a community organizer, trying to discourage parents from prostituting their daughters. Woineshet is finishing high school and plans to study law.

Challenge

Kristof and WuDunn, the first married couple to win a Pulitzer Prize in journalism as New York Times correspondents, are challenging us all to battle gender inequality as fiercely as good people fought slavery in the 19th century and totalitarianism in the 20th.

"People get away with enslaving village girls for the same reason that people got away with enslaving blacks 200 years ago: The victims are perceived as discounted humans," they write.

Half the Sky is a beautifully written, heartfelt exhortation to empower oppressed women by, for instance, educating girls, reducing maternal mortality and expanding microfinance.

"Women and girls cloistered in huts, uneducated, unemployed and unable to contribute significantly to the world represent a vast seam of human gold that is never mined," the authors write.

And countries that repress women -- mainly nations with large Muslim populations -- tend to be economic laggards that breed terrorism, they add.

Read this book and then make a difference by donating to a group, like CARE Canada, that supports women in the Third World. (Check out halftheskymovement.org for details.)

A documentary based on the book will be aired March 4 in Cineplex theatres in major cities across Canada with a portion of the proceeds going to CARE Canada.

"We've seen firsthand how empowerment of women makes a difference in an entire community," says CARE Canada spokesman Andrea Lanthier-Seymour. "These are real stories. They're stories we see everywhere we go."

Red Light the Moive will be discussed on Larry King Live Today

RED LIGHT, a documentary on human trafficking in Cambodia. The producers of the film are the guests on "Larry King, Today". It will be on Showtime next Fall. Showtime has over 30 million subscribers. http://redlightthemovie.com/

Larry King Live Today November 24, 2009
On CNN
9:00PM/Eastern Time; 6:00PM/Pacific Time

Mrs. Mu Sochua worked with the film crew to find the victims and give her personal experience working to combat human trafficking when she was minister of women's affairs.

The documentary will touch you.

Narrated by Lucy Liu, REDLIGHT is a powerful feature documentary about child sexploitation, an epidemic happening in every country around the world.

Filmed over a four year period, REDLIGHT focuses on the personal stories of young Cambodian victims and two remarkable advocates for change: grass-roots activist Somaly Mam and politician Mu Sochua. Both have since been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The filmmakers Guy Jacobson and Adi Ezroni won the prestigious Global Hero Award for their work in Cambodia.

Using footage smuggled out of brothels and harrowing testimonials, REDLIGHT follows the plight of several current and former child sex slaves. Â Some are trying to regain entry into Cambodian society to find some semblance of normality after their horrific experiences. Other stories highlight the plight of victims who are attempting to bring the perpetrators to justice. Their torturous yet ultimately heroic battles to find witnesses and take brothel owners to court are dramatically brought to life in this topical and moving feature documentary.

UNICEF Ambassador Lucy Liu raises awareness of child trafficking

US Fund for UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lucy Liu speaks out against child trafficking at a symposium organized by the US Agency for International Development in Washington, DC. (Photo: USAID/2009)

Source: UNICEF

WASHINGTON DC, 18 September 2009 – US Fund for UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Lucy Liu delivered an impassioned speech here this week to raise awareness about the estimated 1.2 million children who are trafficked worldwide every year.

The internationally acclaimed actress and humanitarian activist spoke at a symposium organized by the US Agency for International Development on 16 September.

Ms. Liu has become increasingly involved in efforts to end child trafficking since her appointment as a Goodwill Ambassador in 2004. She recently produced a documentary film, ‘Red Light’, which focuses on the issue of trafficking in Cambodia.

Effects on women and girls

At the USAID event, Ms. Liu described girls’ experience of being trafficked, both globally and in the United States.

“With no options and not enough protection,” she said, “the world’s poorest children are being recruited more and more into a gruesome array of practices that include trafficking for sex, soldiering, begging, scavenging, working in factories and on farms, and domestic servitude.”

As Ms. Liu pointed out, the most common form of human trafficking, by far, is for sexual exploitation, whose victims are predominantly women and girls. Trafficking for forced labour is the next most common form.

Creating a ‘protective environment’

Other speakers at the trafficking symposium included USAID Acting Administrator Alonzo Fulgham, Ambassador-at-Large to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons Luis CdeBaca and Carlson Companies CEO Marilyn Carlson Nelson.

The participants noted that statistics on trafficking are difficult to gather and often unreliable. Children trafficked into domestic work, for example, are hard to document because servitude in private homes is often hidden from public view and unregulated.

UNICEF’s efforts to protect children from trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation and other forms of abuse focus on creating a ‘protective environment’ for them. In such an environment, people at all levels of society work to enforce protective laws. They also educate children, educators and social service providers about how to prevent and respond to abuse, and challenge discrimination.

“I truly believe there is hope,” said Ms. Liu. “I believe this because of devoted workers and individuals around the world in organizations like UNICEF and USAID.”