Child Slavery in Cambodia

Last night in Cambodia, Somaly Mam and Nicholas Kristof (New York Times columnist, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner) witnessed a raid on a brothel in Cambodia and heroically rescued many girls from the bondage of child slavery.

In Nick's own words from his Facebook and Twitter accounts, this is what happened:

"Just tagged along with Somaly Mam on a raid on a brothel in northern Cambodia. It was very tense, because brothel was run by a military family and well-armed. Two carloads of police with Ak-47's. A half-dozen girls rescued, youngest is about 13, trafficked from Vietnam. Some other girls missing, not sure if they are hidden somewhere. Then seven soldiers arrived, armed, and ordered the police to release the military officer alleged to own the brothel. The prosecutor refuses, and tells the soldiers that if they want to stop him they can shoot him. Brave guy. I think they're all going to go to the police station together. But whether or not he gets away, the girls are free. Amazing to watch and honored to watch Somaly in action."

Over the course of the evening, Nick tweeted the very tense situation. You can view him here on Twitter.

Somaly Mam Foundation is an organization committed to ending child slavery throughout the world. Somaly Mam was just a young Cambodian child when she was sold into sex slavery and forced to work in a brothel. The man who sold her claimed to be her grandfather and to this day, she does not know who the man was. It was only after watching her little friend murdered one evening that she gathered up her strength and fled, leaving behind too many other little girls, but she made a vow that she would somehow return.

According to the Somaly.org website, it was "founded in 2007 by trafficking survivor, Somaly Mam, and the Foundation is dedicated to ending sex slavery around the world with a results-oriented, three-step approach: Action, Advocacy & Awareness."

Somaly Mam has said, "I don't want to go without leaving a trace."

Just this morning, twenty-four young men were rescued after being tricked to work on fishing boats off the coast of Cambodia and beat into submission, forced to work almost without rest and force-fed drugs. You can read that story on the Phnom Penh Post here.

Note: More than 30 years after the Khmer Rouge a campaign of genocide, this country of 14 million remains one of the poorest in the world. We pray that every child will one day be set free.

Sources:

http://www.somaly.org/

https://twitter.com/#!/SomalyMam

https://twitter.com/#!/NickKristof

http://www.wfp.org/countries/cambodia

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2011110752590/National-news/a-long-journey-home.html