Somaly Mam was featured today in the Denver post, in an article entitled Anti-sex slavery activist in Denver tonight.
“Working as a teen-aged sex slave in a Cambodian brothel, Somaly Mam says she served up to 30 clients a night. Some hit her. “I never thought, just lived hour by hour. I played with nothing. In my head: nothing. It was dark, dark, dark. I never trusted people,” Mam said Friday during a visit to Denver.
“I was dead.”
She tried suicide, she said.
Her turning point: the day a brothel pimp fired a bullet through the head of her friend, Srymom, who dared refuse customers – warning other girls to obey. Mam said she then began trying to help a newcomer, a girl with dark skin like her, and eventually used the brothel keys to set her free.
Brothel owners soon released Mam, deeming her too old for Cambodia’s booming sex trade.
Ever since, Mam has been arranging rescues of child sex slaves – more than 4,000 over the past decade. The group she formed – Acting for Women in Distressing Situations – counsels and rehabilitates them at shelters in Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.
Somaly Mam’s continued effort to battle sexual slavery was recently honoured by the World Children’s Prize, decided by a vote of over 6 million children worlwide. From an article in the International Herald Tribune:
“A Cambodian activist who has worked to rescue girls from sexual slavery was named the winner Wednesday of the World’s Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child.
The Swedish prize committee said Somaly Mam was honored for her “dangerous struggle” to save girls sold to brothels in Cambodia. She was selected the winner in a vote by 6.6 million children worldwide.
Mam was herself sold as a sex slave when she was a child and in 2006 her 14-year-old daughter was kidnapped, raped and sold to a brothel, the citation said.
She is now the president of AFESIP, the French acronym for Acting for Women in Distressing Situations, which has helped build safe houses that provide refuge, food, health care and schooling for girls saved from slavery.”
Thanks to help and support of supermodel, Petra Nemcova, the Somaly Mam Foundation Benefit Dinner in Manhattan was a success! Major sponsors included Diane von Furstenberg, Glamour Magazine, LexisNexis, Michael Angelo’s Wonderland, and Joseph Abboud. Hosting the event and speakers for the evening included Petra Nemcova; Abigail Disney; Glamour Editor-in-Chief, Cindi Leive, and LexisNexis Global CEO, Andy Prozes.
The evening began with a red carpet entrance where media such as Dateline, People Magazine, OK, US Weekly, and a local New York news channel interviewed the special guests. Denver
Sponsored by the Hill Foundation the Denver cocktail benefit was held at the elegant and historical Oxford Hotel. Top News Anchor, Bertha Lynn of Channel 7 presented as mistress of ceremonies for the evening. Somaly Mam gave an emotionally powerful speech about her life in Cambodia and her dedication to helping the victims of sex trafficking.
In addition to the cocktail reception, the Denver Chapter of the Somaly Mam Foundation organized 2 sold out screenings of Holly, which included a question and answer session with Somaly Mam and film producer, Guy Jacobson. The evening served as both a fundraiser and opportunity to expose students and Denver community members to the cause. Sponsored by the Denver Film Society, the movie will continue playing through Friday.
On Friday, April 4, 2008, the Somaly Mam Foundation will host a benefit featuring the premiere of the movie Holly. The film tells the story about a young girl caught in the web of the sex slave trade in Cambodia and the man who tries to save her. Shot on location in Cambodia, including many scenes in actual brothels in the notorious red light district of Phnom Penh, Holly, is a captivating, touching and emotional experience.
The film will run in Denver at the StarzFilmCenter from April 4 – 10. Two special screenings will be offered on the 4th: A 7 p.m. general public screening and a 9:30 p.m. student screening.
Tickets for the 7 p.m. show are $20 for the film and a Q&A session afterwards with Somaly Mam and the film’s producer, Guy Jacobson, or $50 to include a meet & greet with Somaly and Guy at 6 p.m.
Tickets for the 9:30 p.m. student screening are $10 and include a Q&A session with Somaly Mam and Guy Jacobson.
Proceeds benefit the Somaly Mam Foundation. To learn how you can purchase tickets for one of these special screenings, email mlumpp@somaly.org. Cash or check made payable to the Somaly Mam Foundation are accepted.
Tickets for showings April 5-10 can be purchased directly from Starz at http://www.denverfilm.org or at the ticket window. For more information, call 303-820-3456.
