From Silence, to Voice, to Power

"This is my vital voice. Now raise yours!"

- Mu Sochua with others women around the world

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMCIfFjp41I

Cambodian ‘Vital Voice’ Urges More Women’s Rights

Cambodian parliamentarian and human rights leader Mu Sochua meets with US Secretary of Sate Hillary Clinton during a Vital Voices Global Leadership Awards event in Washington, DC on April 12, 2011. (Photo: Courtesy of Mu Sochua)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDchxcwgTiE&feature=player_embedded

Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Washington Monday, 18 April 2011

“All parliamentarians, especially those 90 members of the Cambodian People’s Party, should uphold the parliamentary power bestowed upon us. Don’t protect your party principles, because as politicians we serve the voters, not the party."

Vital Voices, an organization for women leadership, held an annual awards ceremony in Washington this month, gathering many women from around the world who work toward greater rights.

The ceremony, held at the Kennedy Center in downtown Washington, honored seven women, including Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, for their contributions in politics, advocacy and business. The other awardees came from Afghanistan, Cameroon, India, Israel, Palestine and the US.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, founder of the organization, said at the April 13 ceremony that each woman shared common values, despite the differences in their countries.

Vital Voices Supporting Global Leaders at Tribute and Retreat

Vital Voices Supporting Global Leaders at Tribute and Retreat

Source: Vital Voices

Vital Voices Global Leader Mu Sochua is in Washington, DC with an invitation-only group of women parliamentarians, businesswomen, leaders and activists for the Vital Voices Global Leadership Network Retreat. Hailing from every region of the world, the women gathered at the retreat are sharing best practices, stories and networks to celebrate the success of women in all spheres. “Vital Voices has tremendous resources to connect people and help women collectively take action,” said one attendee. “The protection of women against violence is not just a Russian issue, but it is also a global issue,” added another.

Vital Voices is co-chaired by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, who met with Sochua and the other Vital Voices Global Leaders at Vital Voices’ award 10th Anniversary of the Global Leadership Award, at the Kennedy Center on 12 April, 2011. The event was attended by 2,400 people. Other presenters included United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues, Melanne Verveer, American news personalities Tina Brown, Wolf Blitzer, Michele Norris, and Cokie Roberts, and other public figures. “It is an honor to be part of this incredible group of women. Vital Voices continues to give us access and opportunity,” said Sochua.

Exiled for Years, Cambodian Activist Hopes for Justice

Mu Sochua (first row, center) has been an outspoken advocate for human rights for decades and has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. She will be speaking in Westport on Saturday.

Mu Sochua has been an outspoken advocate for human rights for decades. She will be speaking in Westport on Saturday.

Hillary Clinton visited Mu Suchua and other members of the Sam Rainsy Party last week.

Mu Sochua lost her parents to the Khmer Rouge, but hasn't lost her will. She will tell her story after a documentary screening on Saturday at the Seabury Center.

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

By Anthony Karge

WestportPatch (Connecticut, USA)

The Cambodia of Mu Sochua's childhood was a nation of peace. The rice paddies in the north were a verdant green. The lakes were full of fish. The beaches were unspoiled. For the first time in a century, the country was independent and free.

"I look back at that childhood as a place that was heaven," she said.

But as Sochua grew older, turmoil took over. The United States backed a coup that overthrew the head of state, who was believed to be sympathetic to the Communists despite remaining neutral. The country was bombed during the Vietnam War, and a man educated in Paris began to gain power. Soon, Saloth Sar, better known as Pol Pot, became the new leader.

He instituted genocide in a country that had known peace just a decade earlier.

In 1972, Sochua had just completed high school and her wealthy parents sent her to safety in France as Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge strengthened. The parents stayed behind.

"My parents didn't want to leave. They did not think that there would be genocide," she said. "My father always said he would live in Cambodia and he would die in Cambodia."

Like so many others, her mother and father disappeared. They were never heard from again.

Sochua bears the scars of a country that has forgotten about justice. She has dedicated her life to bringing economic, social and criminal justice to a country that barely knows the meaning of the word.

"It's a scar as if you were attacked by acid and, very sadly, some of the victims will not get out because the system is not forgiving and there are no opportunities," she said.

Bringing the Fight to Westport

In a house not far from Staples High School, Sochua wrapped herself in a shawl to keep warm. She arrived from Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital that rarely sees the temperature dip below 70 degrees, the day before. She spoke of a country with a modern airport, an infrastructure of roads and two million annual tourists.

"That is what you see on the surface from the outside," the 56-year-old said. "Underneath it, for a society to be called stable, you have to look at freedom, human rights, the justice system, the role of the media and then you have to look at the government at all levels."

In those areas, she said, Cambodia has not developed.

For example, if a woman is raped, she is expected to pay an exorbitant amount of money for the case to be heard by a judge. Evidence can disappear and witness intimidation is common. Property is unlawfully seized by corrupt officials, and men often have to leave the country to find degrading work since mostly women are employed in nearby garment factories.

Sochua was a guest in the home of Roberta Cooper, of the Connecticut branch of the nationwide nonprofit Vital Voices. The organization is dedicated to helping women in developing countries.

When Sochua was elected to parliament in 1998, she was a rising political star despite the inequality women face throughout the country. She galvanized other women in the country to run for office and even landed a spot in the cabinet, one of only two women to do so. While serving in office, she saw corruption firsthand and resigned in 2004, switching to the opposition party.

All of this corruption happens even though Cambodia calls itself a democracy.

"This type of democracy – there's no shape. There's no form. There's only a name," she said.

Several times a year, Sochua leaves Cambodia to raise awareness and funds for local charities. Westport is one of her stops as she heads to a forum in New York City, to the west coast for Thanksgiving with some family members and a visit to the European Union Parliament in Brussels with former President Bill Clinton.

Last week, she met with Hillary Clinton when the secretary of state visited Cambodia. Clinton urged human rights progress and justice for the Khmer Rouge officials standing trial for their genocidal crimes.

"Countries that are held prisoner to their past can never break those chains and build the kind of future that their children deserve," Clinton said from Cambodia. "Although I am well aware the work of the tribunal is painful, it is necessary to ensure a lasting peace."

Exile

After a year in a Paris, Sochua relocated to the United States. She was able to obtain scholarships and received a psychology degree from San Francisco State University and a master's degree in social work from Berkeley.

She looked for her parents on the list of prisoners held in the notorious S-21 prison, where thousands of Cambodians were tortured and killed by the Khmer Rouge. She also talked to any refugees she could find to see if they knew what happened to her parents. All of this was to no avail.

As a refugee, she spent 18 years in exile. She married and started a family while dreaming of returning the country she left behind.

"I had to survive on my own," she said. "Because of a good education I was able to put my life together."

Finally, after several unsuccessful attempts due to passport complications, she returned home in 1989.

"I left as an innocent young woman. Hardly a woman, yet still a young child," she said. "I came back a mother of two."

Event Info

The Connecticut Council of Vital Voices Global Partnership will be screening Redlight, a documentary exposing the global issue of human trafficking on Saturday, Nov. 13 at the Seabury Center, 45 Church Lane, in Westport. A dessert reception will be held at 7:30 p.m. Guests will have an opportunity to meet Mu Sochua and director Guy Jacobson, and purchase the work of Cambodian artisans. The film will be shown at 8 p.m., followed by a question and answer period with Sochua. Tickets for the 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.

On Nov. 14 Redlight will be shown at 4 p.m. at the Ridgefield Playhouse, 80 East Ridge Rd., Ridgefield, followed by a question and answer period with Mu 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 Street, in Ridgefield. Tax-deductible tickets for the Ridgefield event are $100 for the VIP reception and the screening; $30 for the screening only; and $15 for students.

Socuhua's website can be found here.

Teen inspired by Vital Voices

Mrs. Mu Sochua (Photo: The Phnom Penh Post)

Wednesday, September 22, 2010
By Bonnie Adler
Minuteman News Center (Connecticut, USA)

Last year was a busy one for Westport teen Alexis Teixeira. She became involved with a non-governmental organization known as Vital Voices Global Partnership, an international non-profit organization that works with women leaders in the areas of economic empowerment, women’s political participation, and human rights. The organization is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and has strong representation in Connecticut.

Alexis became involved with the organization after her mother, Lisa Teixeira, went to a Connecticut Council Vital Voices Global Partnership event and heard a speaker from Kenya, Kakenya Ntiaya, who moved and inspired her to do more. Ntiaya told the group that she was the first person from her small village in Africa to be educated and leave her village and go to the United States. She promised herself and her community that she would use her education to help others in her village, and did just that. Ntiaya returned to Kenya and established a boarding school for girls, and in her wake left many impressed with her courage and leadership and unswerving dedication to the task at hand.

Lisa Teixeira introduced her daughter Alexis to Ntiaya, and from that meeting, Alexis became inspired as well. She started a Teen Vital Voices club at Staples High School, and that club went on to raise enough money to send four girls to boarding school in Kenya. They are also learning about the issues championed by the national organization, such as empowering women, teaching leadership and economic skills and one of their most challenging tasks at hand, to confront and eliminate sex trafficking.

This year, the Staples High School Teen Vital Voices club will host Mu Sochua, a Cambodian Parliamentarian who has dedicated her life to empowering women and ending the horrors of child trafficking. She will be coming to Connecticut for several appearances and a film presentation and as part of her visit will spend a day at Staples High School giving presentations to Social Studies students in a series of day long events.

A nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize, Mu Sochua was born in Cambodia. In 1972, at the age of 18, Mu 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 she saw her parents. Three years later they were killed by the Khmer Rouge. She completed her education in France and the United States where she completed her education at Berkeley 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 female workers and human trafficking. A member of Parliament since 2008, she has become a leading voice of the opposition against a government which she calls a corrupt dictatorship. She was recently threatened with imprisonment for bringing a lawsuit for defamation against the Prime Minister in Cambodia. She continues to work, often at grave personal risk, for equal rights, free speech, government transparency and a fair judicial process.

During her stay in Connecticut, on November 13, the film, “Redlight” will be shown in Westport at the Seabury Center.

“Redlight” is a powerful documentary, directed by Guy Jacobson, exposing the global issue of human trafficking. The film focuses on the personal stories of the victims of child sexploitation and two remarkable advoacates for change, human rights activist Mu Sochua and another 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.

Alexis said she hopes to spread the word about Mu Sochua to students at Staples and in the larger community. She is also very proud of the work the club is doing. They have hosted several female leaders who are sharing their experiences with the students in the hopes of teaching them what it takes to become a leader and to overcome obstacles.

For more information about the work of Mu Sochua the website is www.vitalvoices.org/gin-profiles/mu-sochua-voices-change. For more information about the film, the website is www.redlightthemovie.com.

The Connecticut Council of Vital Voices is setting up a host committee for the event honoring Mu Sochua. For more information, contact Roberta Cooper at robertacooper@optonline.net.

Mu Sochua Honored in ‘Real Life’ Play

By Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
18 March 2010

Click here to listen to the audio program in Khmer

An opposition lawmaker is among seven women activists celebrated in a new play that opened in New York last weekend, drawing an international audience that included Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“Seven” is a collaboration between the activists, including parliamentarian Mu Sochua, and seven female writers and highlights the lives and struggles of women from Afghanistan, Cambodia, Guatemala, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Pakistan, and Russia.

“We chose women around the world we believe have stepped up to make changes and have worked to carry their society and community forward through times of difficulties,” said Alyse Nelson, CEO and co-founder of Vital Voices Global Partnership, in an interview with VOA Khmer. “And I think Mu Sochua is a perfect example.”

Nelson, whose organization initiated the play in 2006, said Mu Sochua had put herself in “great danger” to ensure equal rights for other women.

“Seven” follows her life before the fall of Phnom Penh through her time as a student in the US, a UN worker on the Thai-Cambodian border and as a politician.“What is important in this play is that we see the lives of women’s rights activists are at risk of violence in a country where there is an absence of democracy, an absence of women’s rights protection, a lack of law enforcement, and an absence of the rule of law,” said Mu Sochua, who is a member of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party. “This is real life turned into a play, not just a play by itself.”

Mu Sochua lost a defamation suit to Prime Minister Hun Sen last year, but she said that episode is not included in the play.

The play has been produced in many countries, and Mu Sochua said it demonstrates that women’s issues go beyond politics.

“When it comes to women’s issues, they speak with one voice to protect women and to admit the truth, especially when a woman becomes the victim of violence or rape,” Mu Sochua said.

Vital Voices' Slideshow on Cambodia

(Photo: Vital Voices)

Click here to watch Vital Voices' slideshow

Mu Sochua's story to be heard in "Seven" Vital Voices on Jan. 21 New York Play

Mu Sochua campaigning during the 2007 commune election

"Seven" Vital Voices are the Subject of Jan. 21 New York Play

NEW YORK – Seven, a documentary theatre piece based on the real-life stories of seven extraordinary women who are part of Vital Voices Global Partnership, will make its staged debut at the 92nd Street Y on Monday, January 21, at 8pm.

The production, featuring seven individual monologues told by seven actresses, is a collaboration between Vital Voices and seven award-winning playwrights, including Anna Deavere Smith, and is directed by OBIE winning director Evan Yionoulis. The other playwrights are Paula Cizmar, Catherine Filloux, Gail Kriegel, Carol K. Mack, Ruth Margraff, and Susan Yankowitz. The actresses include Linda Emond, Danai Gurira, Mercedes Herrero, Christine Toy Johnson, Mahira Kakkar, Joan MacIntosh, Heather Raffo.

The lives of these diverse and courageous women illuminate the work of Vital Voices Global Partnership, an international women’s nonprofit in Washington, DC, that identifies, trains, and connects emerging women leaders around the world. Seven is part of Vital Voices’ year-long celebration of its first decade of serving woman around the world. “Vital Voices is proud to be collaborating with such distinguished playwrights on this groundbreaking work of documentary theatre,” said Melanne Verveer, Chair and Co-Founder of Vital Voices Global Partnership. “The lives of these women provide a portal through which audiences will be able to experience a diversity of cultures while bearing witness to the varied ways in which individual women have overcome seemingly insurmountable hurdles to justice and freedom. We hope the Seven stories will inspire audiences to commit themselves to changing our world for the better.”

The playwrights interviewed the women and created a script that resounds with the women’s own, individual voices from around the globe, including those of:

Hafsat Abiola, Nigeria, an advocate for human rights and democracy following the murder of her activist parents, founded the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy, which provides skills-training and leadership opportunities for young women across Nigeria. She now helps build bridges between African and Chinese women, as China increases its engagement in the African continent.

Farida Azizi, Afghanistan, became an activist fighting the marginalization of women under Taliban rule in her native country. Because of threats on her life, she has gained asylum and now lives in the United States with her two children and works on women's rights and peace-building in Afghanistan.

Annabella De Leon, Guatemala, raised herself and her family out of poverty by getting an education. She has been a Congresswoman since 1995 and has received death threats because of her fight against corruption and for the rights of the poor, particularly women and indigenous peoples.

Marina Pisklakova-Parker, Russia: Against tremendous odds in 1993, she founded the first hotline for victims of domestic violence, which has since grown into Center ANNA, part of a coalition that has provided crisis and counseling services for 100,000 Russian women.

Mukhtar Mai, Pakistan: Gang raped by four men and forced to walk home almost naked in retribution for an alleged “honor crime,” Ms. Mai and her harrowing story grabbed headlines across the world. Instead of taking the traditional “women’s” route of committing suicide, she brought her rapists to justice, built schools to improve the condition of women, and became an advocate for education in her country.
Inez McCormack, Northern Ireland, is an activist for women’s and human rights, labor, and social justice and a former President of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions. She now chairs a program, the Participation and Practice of Rights Project, that helps the disadvantaged access resources and services in Ireland, both North and South.

Mu Sochua, Cambodia: The former Minister of Women's Affairs in Cambodia (one of only two women in the cabinet), she was co-nominated in 2005 for the Nobel Peace Prize for her work against sex trafficking of women in Cambodia and neighboring Thailand.

Vital Voices Global Partnership (www.vitalvoices.org) envisions a world of peace, justice, and economic opportunity for all, where the voice of every woman is heard and respected. Based in Washington, DC, the nonprofit, nongovernmental organization (NGO) invests in emerging women leaders and build the capabilities, connections, and credibility they need to unlock their potential as catalysts of global progress. Through leadership development and local empowerment programs around the world, Vital Voices works to expand women’s role in generating economic opportunities, increasing political participation, and protecting human rights. The Vital Voices Global Leadership network of 5,000 women in 85 countries represents the vital voices of our time. For more information, please contact: Eileen White Read, Media Relations, 202-861-2625, x 3003; eileenread@vitalvoices.org.