Somaly Mam

NOMINEE • Pages 67– 91

Somaly Mam “Somaly, your daughter has disappeared.

She wasn’t at school when I went to pick her up.

I don’t know where she is!”

Somaly can hardly breathe. It’s her bodyguard on the phone and Somaly is terrified that the unthinkable has happened. Her family live under the constant shadow of death threats. Somaly’s struggle for the thousands of girls who are sold as slaves in Cambodia has earned her many enemies. What have they done to her beloved daughter Champa?

T

he police start their search for Champa, 14, straight away among the criminal gangs that run the brothels of Phnom Penh, Cambodia’s capital. That’s where many of Somaly’s enemies are. Her colleagues around the country search

day and night. When Champa has been gone for four days, the police phone and say they have traced her to the northern part of the country, close to the Thai border. It’s an area known for its slave trade, where young girls are bought and sold.

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Somaly Mam has been nominated for the 2008 WCPRC for her long and often dangerous struggle to save the girls who are sold as slaves to and at brothels in Cambodia.

Somaly herself was sold to a brothel as a child, and she wants all girls who have been slaves to have the same opportunities in life as others. Through AFESIP, she has built three safe houses for the girls they rescue from slavery. There the girls get food, healthcare, a home and the chance to go to school, as well as training for jobs when they are older. Above all, Somaly gives the girls safety, warmth and love. 3000 girls who have been slaves now have a better life thanks to Somaly. She and AFESIP speak on behalf of the girls in Cambodia by constantly encouraging the government and other organisations to take care of the country’s girls. Somaly receives regular death threats. In 2006 her 14 year-old daughter was kidnapped, raped and sold to a brothel. People wanted to punish Somaly for her fight for girls’ rights.

 TEXT: ANDRE AS LÖNN PHOTOs : PAUL BLOMGREN

WHY HAS SOMALY BEEN NOMINATED?

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Somaly travels straight there. When she arrives the police have found Champa at a brothel. The kidnappers had raped her first and then sold her to a brothel.

Champa’s kidnapping was a horrifying experience for Somaly.

“I couldn’t stop crying when I held her again. She had been drugged and didn’t recognise me at all. I took her beautiful face in my

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hands and asked her to forgive me, again and again. It hurt so much. My enemies had taken their revenge on me by hurting my beloved daughter. She had been forced to go through the same horrific abuse that I was subjected to for so many years.”

No parents Somaly’s own story begins in the tree-clad mountains of eastern Cambodia. She grew up in a little village with no mother or father.

Nobody knew where they had gone. The people of the village took care of Somaly.

There was always food and a bed for her at one of the families’ houses.

“But at bedtime I saw how the other children lay close to their mothers. I lay alone and it was so cold. I felt so abandoned.”

One day when Somaly was nine, a man came to the village to buy wood. He was going to sell it in the lowlands. Someone from the village told Somaly that the man came from the same town as her father.

“He said he knew my relatives and I was delighted when he asked me if I wanted to go back with him. I hoped I’d find my dad in the town.”

Things didn’t turn out the way Somaly expected. She couldn’t find her dad, and the man who she had started to call ‘grandfather’ wasn’t so kind any more.

“He wasn’t married and didn’t have any children, so he needed someone to help with the housework. He also needed help to earn money so he could buy alcohol. I became his slave. I had to get up at three in the morning every day to fetch

water from the river. I sold the water to different restaurants that served soup for breakfast.”

Somaly walked around with the heavy water buckets for several hours. When she was finished, she did the dishes at one of the restaurants before running home to make lunch for grandfather. She spent the rest of the day working for neighbours who needed help in their paddy fields.

“After that, in the evenings, I went to a place in town that made noodles.

I ground up rice grains to make flour using a heavy stone mill. I was never home before midnight.”

If Somaly came home with enough money for grandfather’s alcohol, he was happy enough. If not, he went crazy.

“He would tie me up, beat

me with a cane and kick me like a madman.”

Sold for the first time One day, when Somaly was twelve, grandfather asked her to go and get some paraffin for the lamp from the local shop.

“I knew the man who ran the shop well. He was usually nice to me and gave me sweets. But this time he punched my face hard, ripped my clothes off and raped me. Afterwards he said he’d kill me if I ever told anyone. He also said that grandfather owed him lots of money. Now I realise that grandfather had paid off his debt by letting the man rape me. That was the first time I was sold.

That evening I lay down under a big mango tree and cried. I was in pain all over and I felt confused and

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care of the ‘clients’. As a punishment, the owner of the brothel beat me and raped me. Then he locked me into a little room. Before he left he said, ‘Do as I say, or I’ll beat you and rape you every day!’”

Somaly dreamt about running away constantly, and once she managed it. They found her though, and as a punishment she was tied up, beaten, and taken advantage of by different men for over a week.

“They managed to break me. I had lost the fight,” says Somaly.

Set the first girl free Somaly kept herself to herself and just tried to survive.

dirty. I didn’t understand what had happened. Since I had no-one to talk to, I tried to talk to the tree.”

Sold again One day when Somaly was fifteen, grandfather said they were going to go to Phnom Penh, the capital, to

Then, however, something happened that was to change her life.

“One day, a new girl arrived. She was only ten.

She had dark skin and was very thin. It was as though I was looking at myself when I’d just arrived. I didn’t want this girl to be ruined as I had been. She could still have a good life. Quickly, I gave her all the money I had. The owners and guards weren’t there and I managed to let her out. She was free.”

When the owners found out that the girl had run away, they said they would punish all the girls.

“So I said that it was me, that I had set the girl free.

They were furious and they

visit a relative. But he tricked her. The house that grandfather took her to wasn’t his relative’s house, but a brothel. He had sold her. Again.

“When I realised what sort of place I had ended up in, I tried to resist as much as possible. I refused to take

Somaly talks to a young girl and her mother. Somaly tells them that AFESIP is there if the family need help.

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beat me for several hours.

Then they locked me into a tiny, cramped cage to show the others what happens to disobedient girls.”

Rescued them all!

The years went by. Somaly had been so badly abused that she no longer had the confidence or the courage to run away. In the end, the owners trusted her so much that she was allowed to leave the brothel with her clients.

She always brought the money back. For a while she had a rich American client who

wanted to marry her, but she didn’t want to. She was scared that he would take her to the USA and sell her.

Before the man left, he gave Somaly 3000 dollars so that she could start a new life.

That was an incredible amount of money. Somaly could have afforded to buy a house and start a little shop.

“But I knew that the other girls at the brothel were suffering just as much as I was.

Somaly plays with a little girl in a poor area. AFESIP keep a close eye on young girls because there is a high risk that they will be sold to brothels.

Scared of the dark “I hate being alone in the dark.

That’s when all the terrible memories come back. I love being outside, playing with the girls in the paddy fields. When we play football, go fishing and catch crabs together I feel alive again,” says Somaly.

Ever since helping that fi rst little girl get away, I had dreamt of freeing the others too. So I gave the owner the money and he agreed to set all ten girls free! It felt fantastic to see the girls as free people!”

The first raid After a while, Somaly met a French aid worker called Pierre. He encouraged her to start a new life. He said that

AFESI P This is how AFESIP, Somaly’s organisation, works:

• They visit brothels to help the girls who are forced to work there and to find girls under 18 who have been sold as slaves.

• They carry out raids on the brothels, along with the police, to rescue the underage girls they have discovered. * They help the girls to report the people who have sold, owned and taken advantage of them to the police. If there is a court case, they also make sure the girls have a lawyer.

• They give the girls a home, food, healthcare, counselling and the chance to go to school, as well as practical training to become dressmakers or hairdressers.

• They help the girls to move back in with their families if possible.

• They help the girls to start a new life by giving them practical training. They give the girls the equipment they need. AFESIP visit every girl for at least three years to make sure that things are going well.

• They have a helpline that the girls can call 24 hours a day.

“The most important thing is that we give the girls tenderness and love.

There’s nothing more important than that. Then most of them can grow strong and cope with life, despite everything they’ve been through,” says Somaly.

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she could do it. After eight years, Somaly was finally free. She and Pierre got married. She still kept thinking all the time about the thousands of girls who were still slaves in brothels. She knew that young girls were subjected to terrible abuse every day. Somaly’s dream was to save all girls from this slavery.

“I talked to Pierre about my dreams, and we decided to start an organisation called AFESIP (Acting for Women in Distressing Situations) to help the girls of Cambodia.”

Somaly began visiting Phnom Penh’s brothels. She taught the girls how to stay healthy and protect themselves from AIDS. She took any girls who were ill to the hospital. The owners wanted the girls to be healthy, so they let Somaly come to visit often. What they didn’t know was that she also kept a lookout for girls were under eighteen and had been sold as slaves. Soon AFESIP carried out their first raid along with the police, to save one of the girls Somaly had discovered. It was a lit-

tle girl called Srey, who was fourteen and had been drugged. Somaly and Pierre took care of Srey in their home. Over time, more and more girls came to live with them. They used up all their own money. Somaly contacted all the aid organisations she could think of and asked them to help her save the girls by giving money. A year later, in 1997, Somaly finally got help and was able to open a little centre where she could take care of the girls who had been rescued.

Worth dying for Eleven years have passed since then, and over 3000 girls have been freed from slavery and given a better life, thanks to the hard work of Somaly and AFESIP. They now have three safe houses that are home to 150 girls who have been rescued.

AFESIP now works in Thailand, Vietnam and Laos too. Somaly has made lots of enemies though, and she lives with constant death threats. She gets threatening phone calls in the middle of the night, cars

“The only thing that really makes me happy is seeing the girls play and laugh again. That makes me glad too!” says Somaly.

follow her around and people threaten to bomb AFESIP’s homes. Someone set fire to Somaly’s house, and she has to have bodyguards protecting her all the time. She regularly has to go abroad when things get too dangerous in Cambodia.

“It is said that the slave trade is more profitable than the drug trade. Brothel owners, the mafia, and some police officers, judges and important politicians earn a lot of money from the trade in young girls. That’s why it’s difficult and dangerous to try to stop it.”

Some believe that at least 20,000 girls under the age of eighteen are still in slavery in Cambodia. Somaly is not going to stop fighting for their rights.

“I was on the point of giving up after my daughter Champa was kidnapped and sold to a brothel. But then she told me quite calmly that I had to keep going. Champa said that she had me and that she’d be okay despite everything she’d been through. But she didn’t know what would happen to

all the other girls if I gave up. What she said gave me the strength to carry on.

The girls call me mum and I really feel that they are my daughters. I love them.

The girls and I have been through the same things so I know what they need.

Safety, intimacy and love.

How could I ever let them down or abandon them?

I know I could be murdered at any time, but fighting for a good future for these girls is something I am willing to die for.” 

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Cambodia hit hard A series of bloody wars raged in Cambodia for 30 years from 1963.

Houses, roads, farmland and people were destroyed: The USA’s war with Vietnam (1959–1975) also affected neighbouring Cambodia. Between 1969 and 1973, the USA dropped over 500,000 tonnes of bombs on Cambodia. Parts of the country were destroyed completely, and hundreds of thousands of people were killed.

Between 1975 and 1979 Cambodia’s communist party, the Khmer Rouge, took power in the country. Their leader was called Pol Pot. During this period, almost 2 million people died as a result of famine, forced labour, torture and murder. Children were killed too. Thousands of people disappeared without a trace.

“Many people say that my father disappeared because he was taken by the Khmer Rouge, but nobody knows for sure” says Somaly.

The Khmer Rouge’s crimes against the people of Cambodia count as one of the worst genocides in the history of the human race. (Read more about genocide at www.childrensworld.org)

As a result of war and violence, Cambodia is now one of the world’s poorest countries. A third of the country’s population live on less than a dollar a day.

Almost half (45%) of all children in Cambodia are undernourished.

“All the conflict and violence has not only made Cambodia extremely poor, it has also destroyed people. Many have lost their sense of right and wrong.

People have become brutal and think only about their own survival. Another person’s life isn’t worth much.

I think that’s why so many families sell their own daughters to brothels as slaves. The fact that it is girls who are affected by this is because girls are worth less than boys in Cambodian culture. Girls are often seen as slaves, to be used by the family and other adults.

We fight for equality for girls and boys,” says Somaly.

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Sreypao

was sold as a slave When Sreypao was seven years old, her own mother sold her to a brothel as a slave.

That was the beginning of a long nightmare.

“I think I would have died if Somaly hadn’t helped me. She saved my life and I love her for it. Somaly is my new mother,” says Sreypao.

H

“

ere’s one! Come and dig here! Quick!”

Sreypao runs as fast as she can to the girls who are on their knees in the paddy field a short way off.

Today it’s her turn to carry

the heavy metal paddle that they use to dig up crabs from their holes deep in the mud.

During the rainy season Sreypao and the other girls who live at Somaly’s home for rescued girls go out crab hunting almost every afternoon.

Sreypao can see the claws sticking out of the mud. She digs around the crab, fi rmly but carefully, to make sure she doesn’t damage it. Then her hand shoots into the

Sreypao, 16 Lives: At Somaly’s home for rescued girls.

Loves: Life!

Hates: That it’s possible to buy and sell people.

Worst thing that’s happened: Being sold to a brothel as a slave.

Best thing that’s happened: When Somaly and AFESIP rescued me.

Looks up to: Somaly! She saved my life!

Wants to be: Like Somaly and rescue girls from slavery.

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Often hungry “Dad died when I was one.

Mum tried to take care of me and my five brothers and sisters. It wasn’t easy for her.

I’m the oldest daughter so I had to help out a lot. Cook food, wash up, take care of my siblings and that sort of thing. I worked on our neighbour’s paddy field to earn a bit of extra money.

We were often hungry.

Sometimes we ate once a day and sometimes we didn’t eat at all,” Sreypao recalls.

One day when she was

seven, a man and woman came to visit. Sreypao had never seen them before. The couple said they could help the family by getting Sreypao a job as a maid with their relatives in the capital city, Phnom Penh.

“Eventually my mum agreed to it and so did I. I wanted to help because I knew that we needed all the money we could get.”

Sreypao started to worry as they approached Phnom Penh. She had never been to a big city before. The couple were kind and they said there was nothing to be afraid of.

“We’ll kill you!”

But as soon as they stepped inside the house, the man and woman changed completely.

“They threw me into a

 TEXT: ANDRE AS LÖNN PHOTOs : PAUL BLOMGREN

mud, fast as lightning.

“Not bad, eh?” she cries, jumping up and waving the crab as close to her friends’ faces as possible. Sreypao laughs. For a long time in Sreypao’s life, however, there was no laughter.

tiny room and locked the door. I was scared and started to cry. I didn’t understand so I shouted, ‘Why are you locking me in? I came here to work as a maid!’ Then they said ‘Stop shouting! If you don’t shut up we’ll kill

Continued on page 77

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What do you need for a good crab hunt?

 TEXT: ANDRE AS LÖNN PHOTOS : PAUL BLOMGREN

… and some friends!

The biggest temple in the world! ...a metal paddle...

The Buddhist temple on Khema’s t-shirt is called Angkor Wat and is in north-western Cambodia. It was built in the 12th century and it’s the biggest religious building in the world. Everyone in Cambodia is very proud of the temple.

Angkor Wat is even pictured on the country’s flag and bank notes! Sometimes the girls who Somaly and AFESIP have rescued go on trips to Angkor Wat.

A bucket…

Sreypao’s wardrobe The girls at Somaly’s home have lockers in the dormitory where they keep all their things. Sreypao’s locker contains: A schoolbag with books and pens.

Some soap.

A bottle of shampoo.

A toothbrush.

Some toothpaste.

A plate and a spoon.

A pillow.

The colourful straw mat that she sleeps on leans against the wall in a corner of the room, since it doesn’t fit in the locker.

“And I have all my clothes in my locker of course.

I love clothes!

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you!’ I was terrified and I wanted to go back home.”

Several days passed and Sreypao was still locked up.

They gave her water but no food. After a week, the man came in and told her to ‘take care of a client’.

“I said that I didn’t know what that meant. That I thought I had come to the house to clean and do dishes.

The man was furious and sent four men into the room.

They tore my clothes off and hit me all over my body with belts and electrical cables.

Then they did terrible things to me. I didn’t know what it was then. Now I know that they raped me. I cried and begged them to stop.

Eventually I fainted.”

Scorpions and spiders “I was woken by one of them pouring water over me and asking me if I would ‘take care of a client’. When

My school uniform…

I said that I still didn’t understand what that meant they locked me into another room. The room was full of spiders, scorpions and other poisonous animals. After a few days I was badly ill and covered in sores. I cried and called for my mum but they just said, ‘Don’t bother, she can’t hear you. She’s not going to help you!’ I didn’t understand what was going on. They wouldn’t even let me out when I needed the toilet. In the end I couldn’t hold on any longer. I had to do it in my clothes or on the floor. When the man saw what had happened he went crazy and yelled, ‘Why didn’t you say?’ They punished me. They beat me and whipped me again.”

Gave up “In the end I gave up. I couldn’t face being beaten again so I agreed to do what

…the traditional clothes we wear when we sew and weave. The girls who live at Somaly’s home for older girls made these clothes.

They’re going to be dressmakers and they’re so good at making clothes!

they told me. Things didn’t get better though. They got worse. ‘Taking care of clients’ turned out to be the same thing. Rape and abuse. All night long and from lots of different men.

Soon it felt like my emotions were being destroyed in some way. As though I was dead.”

Over time, Sreypao was sold to other brothels. One night when she was eleven and had been a slave at various brothels for over four years, she made a decision.

“A new ‘client’ was waiting and I knew that I couldn’t do it. Not one more time. I would run away, whatever the cost. Even if it meant that they killed me.”

Escape Sreypao asked if she could go and buy a cake at the shop round the corner before the next client. They

agreed, but two men went with her as guards.

“Then I said that if they were worried I was going to run away, it might be better if they went to the shop while I waited at the brothel.

The men would never believe that I’d dare to run.

But as soon as they turned their backs, I ran as fast as I could. When I turned round I saw that they’d seen me and were chasing me. I cried and my heart was beating like a drum.

I glanced behind me and ran straight into a couple who were out walking. They could see that I was crying and they asked me what had happened. I explained as much as I could and they said they could help me.

They let me get on their

My sport clothes…

… and my favourite clothes.

I got this shirt and these trousers from Somaly.

They’re the prettiest clothes I have!”

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Together. The girls never go out alone. They take care of each other to make sure nothing happens. motorbike. I was so scared that I was going to be sold again. But the couple worked for AFESIP and they had been out on their night patrol in the park, looking for girls who needed help!”

Saved “When we arrived at AFESIP everyone was so kind to me and I realised that I had been saved.

Somaly hugged me and said

Tom Yam stock.

Coriander for the crab soup.

that everything would be okay. I trusted her straight away. It felt like she understood exactly what I had been through. They gave me soap and clean new clothes.

A doctor examined me and then I saw a psychologist. It felt so good to be able to talk about all the awful

things that had happened to me.”

After four months, Somaly asked Sreypao whether she would like to move to her home out in the country, and start school.

“I was overjoyed. Imagine getting away from Phnom Penh and all those terrible

Sochenda the house mother helps Sreypao to make soup.

memories! And I’d never had the chance to go to school.

The day I stepped into the classroom was the happiest day of my life.”

Sreypao has now been living at Somaly’s home for rescued girls for almost five years.

“I feel so safe here. Somaly, our house mother and everyone else at AFESIP give us so much love. Us girls are like one big family and we take care of each other. Sometimes we talk about all the awful things that have happened to us. Every Thursday a psychologist comes here and helps us too. But most of the time we try to do fun stuff and think of all the good things that might happen in the future.”

Equal worth In the future, Sreypao wants to fight for girls’ rights. Just like Somaly, she wants to do it by telling her own story.

“If we are to put a stop to

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Somaly is my new mum!

“I am sure that my mum knew that she was selling me to a brothel. She sent me out of the room when the man and woman came so that I wouldn’t hear what they said. I don’t know how much money she got for me. I know mum was poor, but I don’t understand how you could sell your own child. AFESIP has helped me to meet up

all this, boys must change.

There’s something wrong when you think it’s okay to take advantage of girls and women the way they did with me. Don’t they have hearts? Would they want their own daughters, sisters, wives or mothers to be treated like that? Boys must start to see girls in a different light. They must understand that we are worth the same and that we must be treated with respect! I want to go to schools and talk about what happened to me. If boys hear my story it might make them

with mum a couple of times. I’m still angry with her though, and I never want to live there again. I’d actually like her to be put in prison, but I can’t report her. She is my mum, after all. But Somaly is my new mother now! She loves me and says that she is going to help me achieve my dreams.”

“My first day at school was the best day of my life!” says Sreypao.

think, and start to treat girls better. It’s hard to tell other people about all the horrible things I’ve experienced,

but Somaly gives me the confidence to do it!” 

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rescued girls at three homes “When I feel sad and tired, I go to visit the girls at the home where Sreypao lives.

The girls give me strength to keep fighting. I love them!

We are good for each other,” says Somaly.

This home is for the youngest of the girls who have been saved from slavery. At the moment, 39 girls live there.

The youngest is just seven years old.

When the girls have completed their basic education, most of them move to one of Somaly’s other two homes for slightly older girls. There they can study at AFESIP’s schools and train to become dressmakers or hairdressers.

They can even study Maths and Khmer, the language spoken in Cambodia.

“I want to go to hairdressing school,” says Sreypao.

A total of 151 rescued girls live at the three homes at the moment.

“If any one of us needs help, or if we want to do something, like go on a picnic, we can write a letter and put it in the secret box. Only Somaly has a key to it. She reads all the letters. Since Somaly has been through the same things, she understands our feelings and our needs. I wrote a letter asking for my little sister to be able to live here. I’m scared that mum is going to sell her. Somaly has promised that she can come here and I’m so pleased.”

The key to the girls’ dreams…

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A day at Somal y “Good morning girls! Did you sleep well?”

It’s still dark outside when Sochenda, the house mother, wakes the girls in the beautiful wooden house on stilts…

5.30 am 5 am Morning workout The girls who like early mornings try to liven the others up.

They swap their pyjamas for exercise clothes and drag themselves down the steps to the yard. Then it’s time for a tough half-hour workout – every morning.

Shower After their exercise session, the girls shower and brush their teeth.

6.30 am To school The girls change into their school uniforms.

“We always help each other get ready for school. Those of us who are a bit older make sure the younger girls have their uniforms on and that they haven’t forgotten their books,” says Sreypao, 16.

7 am Lessons “I love going to school. I concenBreakfast trate on learning things for the Before breakfast, the girls go to their lockers in the future and I don’t have time to think dormitory and fetch their own plates and spoons. about all the bad things that have happened to me. I didn’t start “Today we’re having rice and beans, but my favourite school until I was eleven, because I missed lots of school years breakfast is fish and vegetables. The food here is when I was a slave in the brothel. Now I’m in the fifth grade, even delicious and I never go hungry,” says Srey Moch, 11. though I’m sixteen. If AFESIP hadn’t paid for my uniform and my After breakfast, each girl does her books, I’d never have been able to afford to go to school,” says own dishes.

Sreypao.  TEXT: ANDRE AS LÖNN PHOTOs : PAUL BLOMGREN

6 am

12 noon

1 pm

Siesta Time to rest. It’s a lovely feeling to be able to climb up to the house and lie down to read or sleep when the weather is at its hottest outside.

Cleaning The girls take it in turns to clean the house and tidy the garden. Some help to cook dinner. Anyone who needs extra tuition can get help from a teacher from AFESIP.

11 am Lunch All the girls go home from school and eat lunch.

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al y’s home for rescued girls 2 pm

5 pm

Dinner

Weaving Every afternoon, the girls learn to weave and use sewing machines.

“When I move away from here I’d like to go on AFESIP’s sewing course.

I’d like to be really good at weaving so that I can support myself doing that when I’m grown up,” says Chitra, 13.

6 pm

8 pm

Homework Most of the girls play football and hide-and-seek, or go on crab hunts in the paddy fields. Others wash their clothes, shower and do their homework. At 18.30 the generator is switched on and the home has electricity. This saves the girls from having to do their homework in the dark, even though they are in a rural area where people often don’t have electricity.

“We help each other with our homework.

If you don’t understand something there’s always someone else who can explain it. I want to be a doctor when I grow up, so I know that I have to study hard,” says Leng, 11 (left), who is studying science here with Sopheap, 12 (right).

Film Time!

Somaly thinks it’s good for the girls to watch TV sometimes, so that they know what’s happening around them, both in Cambodia and all over the world.

“But my favourite thing is watching funny films – they make me laugh a lot!” says Sreypao.

9 pm Bedtime, under the world’s longest (?) mosquito net The girls fetch their straw mats and roll them out together in two rows on the floor. Then a couple of girls lower the two enormous mosquito nets above the beds. The nets are over ten metres long and protect the girls from catching malaria. Just before the generator is turned off and the lights go out, Sochenda, the house mother, comes in to say good night.

“She does that every night. She really cares about how we’re getting on, like a real mother,” says Sreypao.

12 midnight’ The witching hour…

Once in a while, one of the girls is woken from her slumbers by someone stroking her leg or her hair. If she looks up, her gaze meets a pair of large, staring eyes and she hears a terrible cackling laugh…

“Sometimes when the others have fallen asleep, I sneak out, put on some make-up and transform myself to the house’s own little ghost! I slip back in and choose my victim. First I gently take hold of her foot… Then I drag her out from under the mosquito net as hard as I can, and scream at the top of my voice.

Everyone wakes up and they all run around the room screaming. I love dressing up and if it’s possible I’d love to join a real theatre company some day in the future. That’s my dream,” says Kanha, 19.

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They love boys more

“I was so upset when my brother was allowed to start school while I was forced to stay at home and work,” says Ly, 13, who lives in Somaly’s home for rescued girls. “

H

ere in Cambodia, girls have to do much more housework than boys. From as young as 5 years old, we have to start washing dishes, cooking, sewing, cleaning, working on paddy fields and taking care of our younger brothers and sisters so our parents can work.

Boys never have to do these things. The only thing they do is play! When parents ask their children to help them, and the boy doesn’t want to, that’s fi ne. He doesn’t have to. But if a girl refused they’d be so angry. I think it’s unjust and just thinking about it makes me angry. The boys should help the girls. If we helped each other, our tasks would be fi nished quicker and then us girls would also have more free time. After all, we like to play too!”

Son goes to school “If a family is poor and the parents have to decide between sending their son or their daughter to school, they almost always choose

to send the son. That’s how it was for me. I was so disappointed when my brother got to start school while I had to stay at home and work. Parents think that boys can get better jobs and will be able to support the family later in life. They think all daughters can do is to stay at home and help with the housework. But I really believe that we can do the same things as boys if we only get a chance. We can work in offices and be managers too! If we are to have a chance of a good life, it’s important that we get to go to school, just like the boys. I love going to school!

Here at the centre, we often talk about how life is harder for us girls than for the boys. I hope that this changes and that girls have better lives in the future.

But I think this will take time, since all families in Cambodia seem to love their sons more than their daughters. I don’t understand why.” 

Dangerous life for girls “I hate being scared just because I’m a girl,” says Oudom, 15, who lives at one of Somaly’s homes for rescued girls.

L

“ ife is much more dangerous for girls than for boys in Cambodia. If we leave our homes, terrible things could happen to us.

We could be raped, kidnapped and sold to brothels, or be exploited by adults in

all sorts of ways. That’s why there are many girls who don’t want, or don’t dare, to fi nd work outside their homes. I feel the same way and I hate feeling like that.

Us girls should be able to move around freely without

being afraid. It should be everyone’s right!

Here at Somaly’s centre we take care of each other so that nothing bad happens to us. We never leave home alone – we stick together in big groups. If something bad happened to one of my friends, I’d do everything to help and support her.”

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What is a krama for?

A krama is a traditional kind of cloth that is very common in Cambodia. Here is Chitra, 13, showing some of the ways the cloth can be used!

To keep the sweat out of your eyes… … or just because it looks great!

To protect your head from the sun… … and the wind.

As a scarf…

…a shawl…

When you buy aubergines…

…or melons at the market!

And wear it like this to go to the Buddhist temple. …a dress…

…and a skirt!

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Synoun got a new life “I was held captive as a slave in a brothel in Thailand for over a year and I thought my life was over. But Somaly and AFESIP have given me a new life. Now I run my own hair salon and I can take care of myself,” says Synoun.

 TEXT: ANDRE AS LÖNN PHOTOS : PAUL BLOMGREN

“

I

grew up in a poor village in a rural area here in Cambodia. One of our neighbours used to travel to Thailand to buy and sell stuff. She said it was easy to make money there. One day the woman told me that she knew a man in Thailand who could get me a job at a textile factory. Our family really needed the money so I went with her. But the man tricked me. He didn’t take me to a factory. He took me

to a brothel. I was only 16 then, but when they locked me up it seemed like my life was already over. Things were so terrible at the brothel that I gave up any hope of ever getting away from there.

Luckily enough, I was wrong. After I had been there a year, the police stormed the brothel and we were set free and sent home again.”

Poor family “When I got home, my mum said that I was never to leave the village again, that I was to stay near home all the time so that nothing bad would happen to me. It wasn’t that easy though. My family were still poor and there was no way of earning money where we lived. How would we survive if I didn’t go and look for work? Dad was worried about my safety the whole time. One day he told me that he had heard of an organisation in Phnom Penh that helped girls who had been sold to brothels.

He wondered if they could help us. Dad phoned them and it wasn’t long before

two people from AFESIP came to fetch me. They were worried that my little sister Samnang was also in danger, so they asked if she could come too. Of course our parents said yes and I was overjoyed – I love my little sister.”

Pretty haircuts “We were quite nervous when we arrived in Phnom Penh, but Somaly hugged us and all the others were really kind. Soon we were able to

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relax. A couple of days later, some of the girls from the AFESIP hairdressing course came and showed us how to do pretty haircuts and paint nails beautifully. I knew straight away that this was what I wanted to do with my life. While I got started on the hairdressing course, my Synoun, 23 sister began learning to sew Lives: With my little and weave. I really loved the sister. course. I had placements Loves: My family. with different hairdressers Hates: The slave trade. and I dreamt of opening my Worst thing that’s happeown salon and supporting ned: Being kidnapped and sold myself the whole time. But I as a slave in Thailand. had such low self-esteem.

Best thing that’s happened: Somaly and the staff supGetting training as a hairdresser ported me and gave me so and help to start my own salon. much love. They said ‘of Looks up to: Somaly. course you can do it’!”

Wants to be: A successful hairdresser.

Dream: To see other countries.

My own salon!

After a year I felt ready.

AFESIP asked me to fi nd a

good spot where I could open my salon. I knew there was no point in going back to my village because no-one there could afford to go to a salon for a haircut. But I found a good place where I could live and work in a town that was only half an hour away from my village by moped taxi. Some people from AFESIP went to see it and once they had approved

At ‘Synoun’s Modern Hairstyles’ you can have your hair cut, have your hair and eyelashes permed, get hair extensions, enjoy a facial massage and sort out your nails with a manicure!

Hair extensions are really popular among Synoun’s customers and they cost 3,000 real (75 US cents).

the place they helped me to set up. They gave me everything: scissors, combs, hairdryers, cupboards, shampoo… everything! It was incredible. My little sister opened her sewing studio in the same building. It means we can share the rent and keep each other company.

AFESIP visited us a lot at the beginning, to see how things 85

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Sisterly love “It feels safe to live with my little sister. Our mum and dad are delighted that things are going so well for us now.

They often come to visit and we go home to the village almost once a week,” says Synoun.

were going and check that we were managing and that the people in the town treated us well. That was great.

One day Somaly came to the salon and I painted her nails and made them beautiful.

That was a good day! She

told me to call her whenever we needed anything. It gives us such a sense of safety to know that Somaly is there if we need help. She or other staff members still come here from time to time to check that everything is OK.

Fair Fashion

If AFESIP hadn’t helped me I would never have been able to get the life I have today. I could never have afforded to train as a hairdresser or start my own salon. It may not always be easy, but it’s fantastic

to be trained and to have a real job. Now I can support myself and I can even help my family. It’s wonderful!” 

It’s hard for some of the girls on AFESIP’s hairdressing and sewing course to find work after the course. This is partly because of the high unemployment rate in Cambodia, but it’s also because many of the girls are not accepted when they return to society. Sometimes they are seen as ‘dirty’ and people choose to buy their clothes or have their hair cut elsewhere. In 2003, AFESIP started ‘Fair Fashion’ to help these girls. The girls make clothes that are sold in Cambodia and abroad. They get a salary they can live on and their workplace is safe. The girls are treated with respect and they can’t be forced to work overtime. Of course, child labour is not allowed at Fair Fashion. This isn’t always the case in Cambodia – almost half of all Cambodian children work. The money Fair Fashion make by selling clothes goes towards rescuing girls from slavery.

Right now there are 30 girls working at Fair Fashion in Cambodia, and in 2004 Fair Fashion was set up in Vietnam too.

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Syna rescues slaves When Syna was 13, she was tricked into going from her village in Vietnam to Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia. When she got there she was sold to a brothel as a slave. Now she is doing what all the girls who have been rescued by Somaly dream of doing…

S

yna keeps her eyes peeled as she paces the dark corridors of the brothel. She knows that behind each closed metal door that she passes, there may be girls as young as seven years old who are kept imprisoned as sex slaves.

She knows what terrible abuse they face and how much they suffer. Syna herself was locked up and exploited by men for three years. Now she works for AFESIP as a social worker at the brothels.

In a little room deep inside the brothel, ten girls are waiting for Syna. They are

delighted when she arrives.

“Hi! It’s great to see you again! How are things?” asks Syna and hugs the girls one after another. They sit in a circle on the floor and begin to talk. At first it’s all jokes and laughter, but later things get more serious.

Several of the girls talk about their ‘clients’ beating them and say that it’s difficult for them to protect themselves.

One girl arrives later than the others. She is weak and thin. She is seriously ill and Syna is worried about her.

“You have to come to the AFESIP clinic so that we

can help you. Do you promise to come?”

The girl nods and says she will try to come.

Syna reminds the girls that the best way to protect themselves against AIDS is to use a condom. She also explains how important it is that they wash thoroughly and that they stay healthy.

She gives out free condoms, toothpaste, toothbrushes and soap to all the girls.

Girl was impaled After the visit, Syna is tired.

The darkness, the small rooms and the horrible smell almost always make her feel

“If I discover any girls who have been sold as slaves, I tell the police and they set the girls free. Even though my job often makes me feel sick because of all the old memories, it’s still worth it. Every time a girl is rescued from slavery it makes me so happy!” says Syna.

sick. All the awful memories from the little room come flooding back.

“The owner of the brothel used to beat me if I had less than ten men a day. Often I was starved as a punishment. And it was impossible to escape, no matter how much I longed for freedom.

The brothel was built on stilts in the water, and the only way of getting in or out was via a narrow, guarded bridge. Around the brothel, the owner had driven sharp wooden poles and iron bars into the waterbed. Once there was a girl who managed to saw the bars off her 87

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little window and she jumped out. She landed on the poles and she was impaled.”

“I dreamt of escaping from this prison all the time, and after a year I thought my dream was going to come true. The police raided the brothel and took us to the police station. But it wasn’t long before the woman who owned the brothel came and paid the police.

Instead of rescuing us, they drove us back to the brothel.

I shouted that I had been kidnapped and that I wanted to go back to Vietnam, but no-one cared,” Syna remembers.

One day, three years later, the police stormed the brothel again. This time, however, things were different. The police carried out the raid with AFESIP, who came to save the girls.

“It was totally unreal!

I didn’t dare to believe that I was free!”

Syna’s two tasks 1. To take care of the girls who are forced to sell themselves in brothels in order to survive. Most of all, to save them from HIV and AIDS. 2. To save children who have been kidnapped and sold as slaves.

“Not slaves any more!”

“Somaly came up to me because she could see I was scared. She gave me a hug, stroked my hair and said ‘How are you my daughter?

Don’t be afraid. Everything will be fi ne.’ It was an incredibly long time since I had felt such warmth. I’ll never forget it,” says Syna.

She got to live in Somaly’s home for rescued girls and

Syna’s mother searched for her for three years. They love each other very much. Here Syna is helping her mother cook some food.

went to AFESIP’s sewing school.

“Then Somaly asked me if I could still speak Vietnamese, since she needed someone who could talk to the girls who have been brought to Cambodia from Vietnam. It scared me, but I said yes straight away!

Somaly had given me so much love and warmth, she’d even saved my life.

Now it felt like I was given the chance to give something back by helping other girls who are in a hard situation.

Syna got to study English, Psychology and Therapy.

Most of all, Somaly helped

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 TEXT: ANDRE AS LÖNN PHOTOS : PAUL BLOMGREN

her with her self-esteem.

It was so low after the long period spent as a slave.

“I remember her saying ‘Don’t be afraid, Syna. Now we are strong. We’re not slaves any more!’ She explained to me that I had rights, that I should be strong and bold. And it helped!”

Saved 14 girls “Now I’ve been a social worker for almost six years.

Along with at least one other social worker, I visit around three brothels a day and try to help the girls there to take care of themselves. It’s a lot to do with teaching the girls how to protect themselves from HIV and AIDS. I listen to their problems too. I’m their friend. If there’s one thing you need when you’re forced to work in a brothel, it’s friendship. There’s no lone-

lier situation. They need warmth and intimacy, and that’s what I try to give.

Every time I see the girls I tell them that AFESIP can help them to get an education and a different life.

Often, however, the girls have been through so many terrible things that they’ve lost their self-esteem. They are ashamed and they don’t think they deserve anything else. They think that their lives have already been ruined. It was the same for me. Before Somaly helped me I would never have believed that I’d even be able to look another human being in the eye again. Since the girls know I’ve been through the same things, they can see that it is actually possible to get a new life – even for us.”

“My most important task at the brothels is to look for girls who are under eight-

een. Girls who have been traded as slaves. If I discover a girl in that situation we tell the police, and they carry out a raid and set the girl free. Then we take care of her. I have discovered and reported fourteen underage girls who have been forced into the slave trade. All of them have found a new life thanks to AFESIP. Even though my job often makes me feel sick because of all the old memories, it’s still worth it. Every time someone is rescued from slavery it makes me so happy! But the thing that would make me happiest of all would be if not one more girl in the world ever had to go through what I’ve been through. All of us are worth more than that.” 

Syna, 23 Lives: With my family in Phnom Penh.

Loves: Freedom.

Hates: When adults treat children badly and violate their rights.

Worst thing that’s happened: Being a slave and not being able to do anything to change that.

Best thing that’s happened: That Somaly and AFESIP gave me a new life.

Looks up to: Somaly of course!

She is an incredibly brave woman.

Dream: That AFESIP survives, since there are thousands of children who need our help.

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Family Life “I searched for Syna every day for over three years.

First at home in Vietnam and then in Cambodia, since I had been told that many Vietnamese girls had been kidnapped and sold in Phnom Penh. I had a photo of Syna and I went round vil­

Syna and her little brother Tang, 12, are helping their mum to make dinner.

lages and towns knocking on doors, asking if anyone had seen my beloved daughter. I can’t describe the relief I felt on the day I finally saw her picture in a police station and realised that AFESIP was taking care of her. I felt that

“I love Syna and I am incredibly proud of her work,” says her mother, Chou.

AFESIP could give Syna a new life and that’s why we decided to stay here instead of going back home. Now our whole fami­ ly lives together again and I am so grateful for that! I love Syna and I am incredi­ bly proud of her work.

Without Somaly and AFESIP, I’m sure she would have been dead by now.” says Syna’s mother, Chou.

Wherever possible, AFESIP encourages girls to return to their families and go back to living a normal life.

is slave trade Most of the girls who Somaly helps have been ‘trafficked’. Trafficking is trading in people, making them into slaves. Over 1,2 million children all over the world are trafficked, which means that they are denied the right to live with their parents, the right to protec­ tion from violence and

abuse, the right to go to school and the right to play.

Trading in girls – the slave trade – happens all over South East Asia.

Thousands of girls from Vietnam are sold in Cambodia and girls from Cambodia, Laos, Burma and Malaysia are often tak­ en to Thailand. Thai and

Chinese girls are smuggled over the border into other countries like Cambodia.

Somaly helps everyone It doesn’t matter to Somaly where the girls come from.

Right now there are Cam­ bodian and Vietnamese girls living at the three homes in Cambodia.

AFESIP make sure that girls from Vietnam, Thailand and China can go home again when they are ready, but only if they know that the girls will be treated well when they return. AFESIP also has centres in Vietnam, Thailand and Laos.

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E

ven though all the countries in the world, including Cambodia, have laws to stop discrimination against girls, often they are still treated worse than boys. Many girls are subjected to abuse, trafficking and the worst kind of child labour – slavery in brothels. More than 2 million children, most of them girls, are forced into the sex trade.

It is easier to trick and take advantage of girls (and boys) who haven’t learned to read or write. 65 million girls do not go to school. Of the 150 million children who stop school before year five, 100 million are girls. Of the 875 million adults in the world who cannot read or write,

almost 600 million are women.

All over the world, women are usually not as well paid as men, even when they do exactly the same work. Although women do two thirds of all the work in the world, they only earn one tenth of the world’s income. Men have more power, both in politics and in business, since it is more common for men to be bosses and leaders.

The fact that girls are not treated as well as boys goes against the UN Child Convention. It is written there that all are of equal worth and should have the same opportunities in life, regardless of whether you are born as a boy or as a girl.

Seven social workers AFESIP’s seven social workers in Phnom Penh work in seven districts. They visit brothels, parks and other places where there are girls who are forced to sell themselves and who need help.

“In my district alone there are 65 brothels. I visit each brothel once a month,” says Syna.

The reason why so many brothel owners let Syna and the other social workers in is because AFESIP helps ‘their’ girls to stay healthy. First and foremost, they help the girls to protect themselves against HIV by giving out free condoms.

100 of Somaly’s girls have died of AIDS F

our out of ten of the girls who are forced to sell themselves in Cambodia are thought to be HIV positive.

“When the girls come to us, they can visit our clinic. There, we explain about HIV and AIDS and tell them that they can get tested if they want. But we never force anyone. If a girl decides to take the test and it turns out that she is HIV positive, then we do everything we can to ensure that she gets the right treatment and care. More than anything else, however, we support her, because it’s a terribly sad thing to find out that you are terminally ill.

That’s when you need a lot of tenderness and support. I or someone else from AFESIP always go with the girls to the hospital, so that they’re not alone. If the girls go there on their own they may be treated extremely badly. The doctors and nurses often say that the girls are ‘bad’ or ‘dirty’.”

“We care for the girls until the very end. One of our homes for girls who have been rescued is named after the first of our girls who died of AIDS. Her name was Tomdy and I’ll never forget her.

Since then, over one hundred of our girls have died of AIDS,” says Somaly.

 TEXT: ANDRE AS LÖNN PHOTOS : PAUL BLOMGREN

Boys treated better than girls all over the world

Love freedom!

“I love freedom! There is nothing worse than being locked up and exploited. That’s why I always tell children not to trust strangers, and not to be tempted to go with people who promise a better life somewhere else.

It can all go badly wrong. I know – it happened to me,” says Syna.

Syna with the baby of a girl from one of the brothels.

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