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(pictured: preparing for their Rainier summit bid; Jeff Bodem (L), Kate Gruber (C), Tony Monaco (R) in Colorado May 2008)

Three LexisNexis US based employees are taking their CEO’s lead and will aid in the effort to stop human trafficking by creating greater awareness while climbing Mount Rainier July 21-24. The practice of human trafficking is a $12 billion industry and the fastest growing organized criminal activity in the world. An estimated 2 to 4 million young women and children will be sold into prostitution in the next 12 months, and many of the children are sold into sexual slavery for as little as $10 and are as young as five.

LexisNexis, a leading global provider of business information solutions with over 13,000 employees worldwide, is committed to helping eradicate this practice by providing monetary support and legal and technical advice to organizations such as the Somaly Mam Foundation which work at the grass-roots level to rescue victims and offer them shelter, safety, counseling, education, vocational skills, and assistance transitioning back into society. Somaly Mam is a former victim of Cambodian slave trade and one of the most prolific activists in the fight against human trafficking today. She has rescued and successfully rehabilitated over 4,000 young women and children.

“Where human trafficking exists, the Rule of Law cannot exist.” said Andy Prozes, CEO, LexisNexis Group. The absence of Rule of Law, the basic principle that no one is above the law, provides a breeding ground for human rights atrocities such as human trafficking. Jeff Bodem, Kate Gruber and Tony Monaco, all part of the same business unit for LexisNexis U.S. Legal Market, will attempt to climb Rainier and unfurl the Somaly Mam Foundation banner from the summit. “In addition to raising awareness, we hope to inspire others to take action by writing their legislators to protest human trafficking and ensure the presence of the Rule of Law. If we pressure governments to enact new or more severe legislation against the practice and ensure allocation of adequate resources toward enforcement of those laws, we can wipe out industry demand” said Gruber, an Orlando, FL resident and Client Manager for LexisNexis.

Bodem, Gruber and Monaco have spent the past 12 months preparing for their summit attempt of Mount Rainier, the highest peak in the Cascade Range, at 14,410 feet. Rainier is the most extensively glaciated volcanic peak in the contiguous United States. Most climbers require two to three days to reach the summit and about half of the attempts are successful, with weather and conditioning being the most common reasons for failure. About three to five mountaineering deaths occur each year due to rock and ice fall, avalanche, and hypothermia associated with severe weather. Mount Rainer experienced its first 2008 season casualty in June of this year.

“Somaly Mam and LexisNexis’ efforts have inspired us, and we have an opportunity to create additional awareness to a cause we all agreed was worth the risk. As a father of three young daughters, I struggle with teaching them how one person can make a difference. I now realize there is no better way to teach our children and inspire others than through action”, said Bodem a Fort Mill, SC resident and Regional Client Manager for LexisNexis. “It’s been both challenging and rewarding pushing yourself to your physical limits in dangerous places where help is not around the corner” said Tony Monaco a Charlotte, NC resident and Practice Management Specialist for LexisNexis. The trio’s preparation has included training climbs in the North Carolina Appalachian range, Arizona and most recently Colorado. Monaco went on to say “we have sacrificed a lot of personal time preparing, but It makes it all that much more rewarding to take this opportunity to create greater awareness for this cause.”

The summit team departs for Mount Rainier on July 20th for their two day climb. “We want to inspire our families, children, co-workers and others that they can make a difference. It’s easy to get self-absorbed today, to tighten your wallet, to turn away from everything going on in the world. We just want to do our small part along with LexisNexis to raise awareness and to help others in need. If one person reads this and acts, we have accomplished more than summiting a mountain”, said Bodem.

Pre-orders for Somaly Mam’s new book, The Road of Lost Innocence, are now being accepted in our <a href=”/store”>store</a>.

Born in a village deep in the Cambodian forest, Somaly Mam was sold into sexual slavery by her grandfather when she was twelve years old. For the next decade she was shuttled through the brothels that make up the sprawling sex trade of Southeast Asia. Trapped in this dangerous and desperate world, she suffered the brutality and horrors of human trafficking – rape, torture, and deprivation – until she managed to escape with the help of a French aid worker. Emboldened by her newfound freedom, education, and security, Somaly blossomed but remained haunted by the girls in the brothels she
left behind.

Written in exquisite, spare, unflinching prose, The Road of Lost Innocence recounts the experiences of her early life and tells the story of her awakening as an activist and her harrowing and brave fight against the powerful and corrupt forces that steal the lives of these girls. She has orchestrated raids on brothels and rescued sex workers, some as young as five and six; she has built shelters, started schools, and founded an organization that has so far saved more than four thousand women and children in Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. Her memoir will leave you awestruck by her tenacity and courage and will renew your faith in the power of an individual to bring about change.

You can pre-order the book for only $19.99 at our store. The Road to Lost Innocence releases on September 12, 2008.