Fighting to stop sexual slavery IS "Glamourous"


In her acceptance statement, Somaly said “I don’t know my name, my age, or my parents because I was sold into sex slavery when I was so young. What I am doing is to hope that some day, children and women can live a normal life, like you do, and can smile in my country.”



That evening, deeply moved by Somaly’s work, Queen Latifah and Barbara Walters each pledged to give Somaly’s organization $150,000 US dollars. So far, Somaly’s organization has saved 3,000 girls throughout Southeast Asia.



Read more about Somaly’s organization, AFESIP, www.afesip.org



Vital Voices’ Interview with Somaly Mam



The day after Somaly’s big night, Vital Voices’ Wenchi Yu Perkins interviewed Somaly Mam about her recent work, life, and how she feels about the “glamorous” evening she had the previous day.



Greeted by Somaly in her hotel room in mid-town Manhattan, Somaly exhibited fatigue in her face because of her two-week travel from Cambodia to Europe and the US. “Everyone else is out touring the city but I just want to stay in,” said Somaly, even though this is Somaly's first time in New York.



“I am afraid of seeing people because I am not used to this kind of publicity, glory, and celebrity.” Having received so many awards and so much international recognition for her important work, Somaly still is not used to these parties and celebrations. “I really miss my girls in Cambodia. I feel the happiest being around them. Now I just want to go home and see how they are doing.” “But I understand how important it is for me to travel outside of Cambodia because that’s the only way to receive critical support in order for me to continue my work."



Somaly said just a few months ago, she was so discouraged because her organization, AFESIP, was out of funding and it had been three months that she could not pay her staff a salary. “One of the shelters is closed because we are running out of money.” “I was seriously thinking about giving up. But my daughter said to me, ‘Mummy, please continue AFESIP’ and I just want to work for them.”




So what keeps Somaly going despite all the difficulties at work and in her personal life? “It’s my story” responded Somaly. “Everything I missed as a child, I want to give that to these children.” Somaly’s daughter was recently kidnapped and while she returned home safely, corruption and mafia continues to threaten Somaly and her family’s safety.



When asked about how the Glamour Award is going to impact her work, Somaly simply said “please give awards to other women.” “There are so many great women working in the field in Cambodia but they have not been recognized for their courage and achievements. Please give awards to them, not me.”



Even though Somaly and her organization, AFESIP, has been so successful in saving girls’ lives, she thinks there are still so much room for improvement and so much more to be done. “We need a lot of training to help our staff enhance their professional practice at work. For example, we need to learn how to provide better victim services, how to manage our finance and write good reports to funders, and to market and communicate about our work. We still need a lot of help.”



Somaly’s biography has been published in French in France, Italy, Germany, and Japan. The English version should be available in the UK and the US in early and September 2007 respectively.

Sorry I haven't blogged in forever. I've just been working on some personal stuff and needed to have some healthy distance from the Internet. This may sound hypocritical, and I do apologize, but if you are going trick or treating ( I can't due to SATs two days after) but I think it would be really great if you could just have a quick chat with your neighbors about child sex trafficking while you are at their doors anyways. This to me, seems really convenient to educate and spread the message of abolition and restoration, with maybe some candy on the side! :) It's just a thought and hopefully it can work for some of the readers.

With love & prayer,
E.

This article is an example of how sexual perpetrators get the upper hand. I would put every name of every child sex trafficker on these shirts, but there are too few shirts because of the secrecy and too many names because of the sickest greed imaginable.

University tries to limit anti-rape demonstration
At the University of Maryland, a traditional rape-awareness event is coming under fire.

For the past 17 years, students have participated in a rape awareness program where victims and advocates against sexual violence hang T-shirts along a huge clothesline on campus.
The program allows victims to turn their backs on the crime and have a voice. Some victims also write the names of their assailants on their shirts.

But this year, university lawyers are instructing participants not to write names on shirts to avoid potential lawsuits.


The students say they still plan on hanging the shirts with names on them. One student and a member of the Student Advocates for Education about Rape, Khalifah, says "This is just another way [of] silencing sexual assault victims.

This reminds me of my all-time favorite movie of bad-ass girls, Girls Town. There's a scene where one of the characters scrawls on their high school bathroom wall the name of the guy who raped her, identifying him as a rapist. When she comes back to the wall later, other girls have written down the names of their assailants. There's power in naming. The University of Maryland should support that."

Thank you to the Board of Benevolence for giving Love146 $500.00! Such wonderful acts prove, if there's a will then there's a way.
People DO care and DO want to abolish child sex trafficking and exploitation. You'll be surprised at how many abolitionists you will come across. The struggle for justice is very difficult, but we are not alone in our desire to end slavery. We even had kindred spirits back in the 1800s during the first abolition movement! We are carrying on their legacy and strength, to give strength to those who are enslaved.

Many Thanks!

Love 146

Love 146

...She still had a fight left.

Visit, explore, watch the video;
Be surrounded by Love 146.

"It takes two to speak the truth - one to speak and another to hear."

-Henry David Thoreau (author/abolitionist)

Hi Everyone!
Hope you all are doing well and enjoying the last bits of summer. For this post, I'd like to mention Post Traumatic Stress Disorder just to give some insight as to what survivors of child sex trafficking may be going through. The information I've borrowed is from RAINN.

"Post traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Submitted by jessicab on Thu, 2006-02-16 16:50.
Post traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a normal human reaction to an extreme or abnormal situation. Each person has a different threshold for what is perceived as a traumatic event. PTSD is not a rare or unusual occurrence, in fact, many people experience PTSD as a result of a traumatic experience such as rape or sexual assault.
You may be experiencing PTSD if, following an event where you experienced or were confronted with actual or threatened injury or a threat to your physical integrity, you have:

shown symptoms of intense horror, helplessness, or fear
experienced distressing memories of the event (e.g., flashbacks, including nightmares)
regularly avoided things or triggers that remind you of the event (e.g., people, places, things, etc.)
shown significant impairment or distress due to the event
shown at least two symptoms of increased arousal (e.g., sleep difficulties, difficulty concentrating, hyper vigilance, an exaggerated startle response, or irritability or outbursts of anger/rage)
experienced these things for at least a month"

PTSD is only one out of many reactions due to sexual abuse and slavery. Aftercare is so important to treat the symptoms. Please pray that more children find refuge in safehomes and work through the pain they experience.

Abolition & Restoration,
Elizabeth

Yay! The check is in! I sent JFCI the money rasied from The Tempest on Thursday. Giving is the best feeling in the world.

Girls, I am with you. I know you will dance someday. You are in a loving place. Feel my friendship.
I with JFCI and other organizations vow to never let you get sold and hurt ever again.
Feel the sun on your skin. Your body is good; I promise.

I'm representing my school for JFCI's campus coalition! Yay! This is such an honor. I plan to educate my peers and act as an extension for JFCI at all times. For more info. on JFCI's campus coalition, check out their website - www.jfci.org.

Make the links, then brake the chains...