- Global Voices - https://globalvoices.org -

Cambodia: Somaly Mam awarded Women of the Year by Glamour magazine

Categories: East Asia, Cambodia, Breaking News, Human Rights, Women & Gender

Somaly Mam [1] works hard. She works hard to cope with her past. In her childhood, she experienced rape, torture, and violence. With her husband Pierre Legros, she founded the AFESIP [2] (Agir pour les Femmes en Situation Précaire) NGO in 1997 in Cambodia where trafficking in persons is one of the most serious issues. In October 2006, as a Cambodian human rights activist who has dedicated her life to rescuing women and girls from sexual slavery, the 35-year-old was honored as one of Glamour magazine's women of the year [3] at a presentation at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

‘Details are Sketchy,’ a blog about all things Cambodia, has a number of links to weblog posts [4] on news on the campaigner against human trafficking.

Without a doubt, if somewhat belatedly, a huge congratulations goes to Somaly Mam, co-founder of the NGO Afesip, who was recently awarded the title of Women of the Year by Glamour magazine.

And England-based Andy Brouwer, who writes about prominent figures of Cambodia at Andy's Open Door, wrote a post titlted ‘Recognition for Somaly Mam [5]‘. One part of it reads that:

The latest news is that Somaly Mam was yesterday awarded a prestigious Woman of the Year Award by the US magazine Glamour at a ceremony in New York. The statement from Glamour reads: “Somaly Mam is an inspiration to women around the world. She overcame horrific childhood abuse and has devoted her life to rescuing other girls from similar fates. She's bringing the issue of sexual slavery to the attention of the world, thus giving the hundreds of thousands of children who are currently enslaved in brothels a real shot at a better life.”