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500 of our incredible student activists at an event they organized in Cambodia celebrating women's rights and gender equality.

It is crucial to provide support to all persons affected by sex trafficking. But real change will only happen as a result of a unified global effort to put an end to this atrocity. Through the SMF office in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, we are working to build strong relationships with government agencies, law enforcement, and other NGOs to help raise awareness of this complex issue and prevent future instances of trafficking from occurring. Through our New York office, we are creating strategic partnerships with like-minded partners who can leverage their skills and knowledge to combat trafficking and slavery on a macro level through social enterprise projects, in-kind donations, awareness campaigns, and more. Additional SMF programs and activities focusing on the eradication of modern-day slavery include:

Anti-Trafficking Day. In 2007, under the persuasion of SMF and other NGOs, the Cambodian government adopted December 12 as National Anti-Human Trafficking Day. Since 2009, SMF has hosted an annual Anti-Trafficking Day event in Cambodia designed to raise awareness, foster change, and promote prevention efforts. The event is sponsored by SMF and AFESIP Cambodia in conjunction with the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and the Ministry of the Interior. Activities unite various anti-trafficking stakeholders on the ground and provide a platform to engage government officials, the local community, and the victims and survivors of human trafficking in conversation. In 2013, over 2,100 people participated in celebratory activities.

Mass Media. In Cambodia, SMF hosts a groundbreaking weekday regional radio program called SMF Radio Show. This hour-long program educates Cambodian listeners on how to recognize, address, and prevent trafficking. Led by representatives from Voices For Change (VFC) and enhanced with special guests, the show educates listeners on human trafficking laws and sexual exploitation of women and children, targeting a diverse audience of students, teachers, parents, police, military police, karaoke bar owners, restaurant owners, job recruitment agencies, law enforcement officials, and other relevant authorities. Guests include lawyers and legal experts, shelter service experts, and VFC members to lend a survivor perspective. In 2013, the show aired 65 new episodes and received 260 callers.
 
Strategic Partnerships. Over the past several years, SMF has partnered with brands such as Hilton Worldwide and the Estee Lauder Companies to champion the rights of victims and the empowerment of its survivors.
 
In 2011, Hilton Worldwide took a strong stand against the commercial sexual exploitation of children by signing the tourism Code of Conduct with ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for Sexual Purposes). The Code specifically focuses on the protection of children from sexual exploitation in the travel and tourism industries. Since then, Hilton has partnered with SMF with in-kind donations, by donating venues and hotel spaces for anti-trafficking events, and by sponsoring the Foundation's annual gala.
 
In October 2013, we proudly celebrated the opening of the Somaly Mam Beauty Salon, in partnership with the Estee Lauder Companies and AFESIP Cambodia. The salon provides survivors of trafficking and sexual exploitation with the opportunity to learn world-class beauty skills and business operations training. This social enterprise offers the chance for survivors to become self-sufficient and empowered agents of change in Cambodia's growing economy, helping to move the needle and create a society that says “no more” to slavery and the oppression of women and girls.
 
Student Activism. Today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders. 65% of Cambodia’s population is under the age of 30, and through our advocacy and grassroots organizing efforts, SMF is helping to mobilize the student population of Cambodia to take collective action against the trafficking and sexual exploitation of women and girls. To that end, in 2012, SMF established a student-oriented program for high school and university students to fight slavery. Students are coordinating and facilitating anti-trafficking education, promotion, and prevention activities. Still in the pilot phase, this program is currently focused in higher-risk provinces. To date, 6,400 students across Cambodia have joined this network. This is a new generation, one that will no longer tolerate slavery in their country.
 
Advocacy and Collaboration. The SMF team meets regularly with provincial governors in key provinces around Cambodia to continue familiarizing government officials and partners with the work of AFESIP Cambodia and SMF. SMF is working with 11 government ministries as part of the Coalition Against Human Traffiking in Cambodia to conduct national trainings on the strategy to combat human trafficking. These relationships have been key to our success in changing the face of trafficking in Cambodia and improving victim protection and criminal prosecution efforts. Regionally, SMF is part of the COMMIT Taskforce, a gathering of representatives from Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam that focuses on meeting international standards in countertrafficking measures.
 
Police and Judge Trainings. Voices For Change leaders lead training sessions for law enforcement agents, government officials, and community members to recognize and properly address cases of human trafficking, in an ongoing partnership with the United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region (UNIAP). They focus on existing anti-trafficking laws and the need for compliance with rule of law, as well as the underlying conditions that lead to trafficking and the particular needs of victims. First-hand accounts of the horrors of life as a sex slave serve as dramatic wake-up calls to those in the legal profession who have pledged themselves to the cause of justice.

2013 Impact Highlights:

  • In 2013, the VFC leaders and Advocacy Team helped found six new student networks, engaging 122 young leaders and over 6,400 students.
  • The SMF Advocacy Team developed 97 educational messages related to human trafficking, sexual exploitation, domestic servitude, children’s rights, rape, and forced marriage. These are printed on banners and in print ads:
    • There are 27 different anti-trafficking posters displayed on the back of 46 tuk-tuk mototaxis in four provinces.
    • 100 buses that travel from Phnom Penh to each province have anti-trafficking banners on the back.
    • In the last three months of 2013 alone, SMF ran 187 ads in magazines and newspapers, bringing these messages to thousands of people in every province in Cambodia,
  • SMF has a database of over 3,000 international volunteers who are engaged in the fight against human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and modern slavery.
 
SMF Volunteer Network. Our network of passionate volunteers uses what they know and who they know to create innovative events and campaigns and raise awareness and funds in their communities. Click here to take action. 

We cannot reach our full potential as a global community until we share, and then achieve, the vision of a world where women and children are safe from trafficking and sexual exploitation. To support our eradication efforts, .