Former Child Prostitute Finds New Hope
|
|
Deep in the Cambodian countryside hundreds of miles from the city and years behind the modern world the life of a 13-year-old girl seems simple. But for Sophon (not her real name) life wasn’t always so sweet. Her country, Cambodia, has the distinction of being Asia’s sex trafficking capital. Like many young girls, Sophon was sold into prostitution by her own, desperately poor family when she was just six years old. She escaped from a brothel in neighboring Thailand by running to the police. They sent her to Cambodia, where Somaly Mam, the founder a shelter for young girls, Acting for Women in Distressing Situations , is giving her a new, loving home. “I love my life here. I can live like I want to,” Sophon, 13, said. “Here, nobody is difficult. Nobody makes me angry. Nobody makes me upset. I love Somaly like a mother and she loves me like a daughter.” Few could understand Sophon’s pain better. As a young woman, Mam herself escaped the sex trade. And, today, she helps dozens of young girls like Sophon. “I take her and play with her, I bring her to the hospital and she wants one thing — to go home,” Mam said. “And I told her you cannot go home. How can I explain it to her?” More : abcnews.go.com |