The Road of Lost Innocence (17 page)

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank all the victims for their courage and for the confidence and trust they have given me. I love them like I love my own children and am so very proud of them.

I have a special debt of gratitude to all the people who have assisted in my work and helped AFESIP in our fight against sexual slavery. I am deeply moved by the humanity, warmth, and generosity they have shown for our cause.

There are so many special people around the world to thank. The list is too long to mention everyone, but I would like them to know that I hold them in my heart. There are some people in particular whose support has been vital: Queen Sofia of Spain has been unyielding in her compassion and, from our very first encounter, has given me hope for a new life. The Lexis Nexis Corporation with their global commitment to the rule of law and human rights have been an inspiration, especially Andy Prozes, Robert Rigby-Hall, and Bill Livermore, whom I trust and respect like a brother.

I am so grateful to everyone at
Glamour,
especially Cindi Leive and Mariane Pearl, for their friendship and support. My heartfelt thanks to Susan Sarandon, Barbara Walters, Petra Nemcova, Daryl Hannah, Diane von Furstenberg, Norman Jean Roy and Jojo, Jack Milon, Ernesto Carlos Gerardo, the Lumpp family, Renée and Anne Daurelle, and Catherine Madar and her two daughters in Paris. Despite everyone’s busy lives, they have given so much of their time, their hearts, and their energy. Thank you.

Nic Lumpp, Jared Greenberg, and Ed Adams of the Somaly Mam Foundation have been tireless in their hard work to raise awareness about our mission in the United States. They have proven that dedication and sheer will can bring about enormous change.

The Cambodian government went above and beyond the call of duty to bring my daughter back to me. I am eternally in your debt.

I would also like to thank the people who have helped make this book happen: Katrin Hodapp, my little sister; Alain Carrière, my French publisher, whom I view as an adopted grandfather; Ruth Marshall, who gave me the confidence I needed to find these words; and Susanna Lea, whose passion for women’s causes I greatly admire.

Special love to my beautiful sisters, Chenda Sophea and Ouk Vongvathany, and to my dearest friends: Kimleng, Chantha, Kien Sereyphal, Sapor, Sofia, and Emmanuel Colineau for your spirit, kindness, and care. You have been a constant source of comfort in dark times.

I wish to thank my adoptive family who took me into their hearts and taught me the values of silence, honesty, and hard work.

Above all, I wish to thank my three children for their patience and for teaching me how to love.

Appendix

A portion of the proceeds from this book will be donated to the Somaly Mam Foundation.

The Somaly Mam Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit charity that combats illegal trafficking and sexual slavery by supporting organizations that rescue, rehabilitate, and reintegrate young victims. All organizations funded by the Somaly Mam Foundation are audited operationally and financially. AFESIP Cambodia is currently the foundation’s primary beneficiary. Led by Somaly Mam, the Somaly Mam Foundation is committed to ending sexual slavery and giving victims a chance at a new life.

To learn more about the Somaly Mam Foundation, get involved, or make a donation, visit the Web site:
www.somaly.org
.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Somaly Mam
is cofounder and president of AFESIP (Acting for Women in Distressing Situations) in Cambodia and president of the Somaly Mam Foundation in the United States. Under her leadership, the two organizations seek to save, rehabilitate, and socially reintegrate victims of sexual slavery in Southeast Asia and have rescued more than 4,000 women and children to date. In 2006, Mam was named a CNN Hero and a
Glamour
Woman of the Year. She is also the recipient of the 2008 World Children’s Prize for the Rights of the Child Award. She lives in Cambodia.

^*1
In September 2006 we had to close that center for lack of funds.
Return to text.

Translation copyright © 2008 by Somaly Mam

All Rights Reserved

Published in the United States by Spiegel & Grau, an imprint of The Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York.

www.spiegelandgrau.com

Originally published in France as
Le silence de l’innocence
by Editions Anne Carrière, Paris, in 2005. Copyright © 2005 by Editions Anne Carrière, Paris.

This translation was first published in Great Britain by Virago Press, London, in 2008.

SPIEGEL & GRAU
is a trademark of Random House, Inc.

Some names and identifying characteristics have been changed due to issues of transliteration and, in other cases, the author’s desire to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Mam, Somaly.

[Silence de l’innocence. English]

The road of lost innocence / by Somaly Mam with Ruth Marshall.—1st ed.

p.                                    cm.

1. Child prostitution—Cambodia. 2. Child sexual abuse—Cambodia. 3. Children—Crimes against—Cambodia. 4. Mam, Somaly. 5. Afesip (Organization) I. Marshall, Ruth, 1961– II. Title.

HQ242.3.A5M3613 2008

362.76092—dc22

[B]

2008028302

eISBN: 978-0-385-52854-2

v3.0