Voices for Change

Survivors of trafficking are not weak and helpless. They are strong, resilient, and have demonstrated incredible courage in overcoming their tortured past and building a promising future for themselves. The Somaly Mam Foundation is there to lend a hand and provide them with a platform from which their voices can be heard around the world.

Our Voices for Change (VFC) program is that platform. Modeled after Somaly’s life example, VFC is designed to give survivors an opportunity to help themselves by helping others, to have their voices heard in the courts of law and public perception, and to have influence and impact on effectuating change. It is our vision that from those who have struggled through the pain of slavery will arise a new generation of leaders who stand for justice and free will.

Those who have undergone rescue, recovery, education, and reintegration are survivors who can choose to join our Voices for Change initiative and help in the Survivor Services program area by speaking to new victims brought to the centers, completing intake forms, teaching classes, and sharing life skills training.

Program participants join legal training seminars and courageously share their stories with magistrates, judges, and other members of the legal community brought together to better understand sex slavery. The survivors’ first-hand accounts of the horrors of life as a slave in the sex trade serve as dramatic wake-up calls to those in the legal profession who have pledged themselves to the cause of justice.

Participating survivors host public service announcements in Cambodia and Southeast Asia. They also accompany Ms. Mam to certain fundraising and awareness events to share their experiences, educate the public, and show that this is happening to real people-- not just nameless, faceless masses.

Each one of these women has lived through horrific conditions, and has emerged as young leaders, or Voices for Change. These are their stories:

Sina

Favorite Food: likes to eat a LOT! Chinese, Cambodian, Vietnamese
Favorite music: Hip-hop
Favorite activity: eating, listening to music, reading
Favorite subject: all subjects, because she likes to learn new things

As the leader of the Voices for Change team, Sina knows that she has to study first! It is a wonder she makes time for homework, though, as she is constantly busy with field visits to AFESIP's reintegrated victims in the provinces, communication with other NGOs, and visits to brothels in Cambodia. She also enjoys the Voices for Change social activities and was excited by her recent visits to the National Museum and Royal Palace in Phnom Penh. She feels that Voices for Change is important because it lets the world know about the victims through the voices of the survivors.

Sina wishes to spread awareness that nobody wants to be victimized. She notes, "When a sex worker goes out with a client, they may seem happy on the surface, but if you look in their eyes you will see the sadness beneath. They do not want this for themselves, but they also need the money." Sina highlights the fact that Voices for Change represents trafficked individuals around the world, not just those in Cambodia. She wants the world to support survivors everywhere so that they can start their new life. Sina hopes that in the future, no victims will remain.

Srey Sokpanna (Sok)

Favorite food: vegetable dishes without meat, but she likes all kinds of food.
Favorite music: classics and slow songs, also hip-hop.
Favorite movie: American classics best, and likes modern movies second. Her favorite film is Titanic.
Favorite activity: dancing and cooking
Favorite subject: English, because it is required to find a good job and is important for communicating with other people.

Sok is currently taking Khmer, English and computer lessons as well as pursuing an accounting internship at the Somaly Mam Foundation office. As part of Voices for Change, she also visits other NGOs to find out more about their activities and their work to help Cambodians. Sok is an excellent dancer and her role model is the Khmer actress Dah Minka, because she can play any role and is not afraid to cry. She believes that Voices For Change is important because the team is made up of former victims, so they can help and motivate other victims to follow in their footsteps so that one day they will have the same opportunities. Sok hopes to one day be able to run her own business - ideally, a hair and beauty salon!

Mey

Favorite food: everything...but some food she cannot eat too much!
Favorite music: romantic music
Favorite activity: cooking, studying English, and using computers
Favorite subject: English

Mey is also occupied with her Khmer, English, and computer studies at the Voices for Change program. In addition to class work, she gives presentations at the AFESIP shelters alongside the other Voices for Change trainees, and spends time as an intern with AFESIP, learning how to perform administrative tasks. She also loves to cook and enjoys the challenge of making foreign dishes; according to Mey, "Khmer food is easy to cook!"

Mey feels that Voices for Change is important because she wants to share her own experience with the world, as she was trafficked as a child. She wants to share some strategies to prevent other people from being victimized, because, as Mey says, "nobody wants to be a sex worker." She feels that awareness is important because "people need to learn first why women and girls become victims - sometimes it is by tricks, and in other cases there is no other way to make money." She enjoys the Voices for Change team because when the young women have problems, they can share with one another and encourage each other; in this way, they are like siblings. In the future, Mey wants to continue to learn English and computer techniques and hopes to own a restaurant that will provide former victims with a place to work.

Pheap

Favorite food: dried food and barbeque
Favorite music: romantic music, especially songs related to mothers and children
Favorite activity: reading books
Favorite subject: all of them! She is getting better at Khmer and English.

Pheap is busy studying Khmer, English, and computers at Voices for Change in addition to her work as an intern with AFESIP's Outreach/HIV Prevention team. She really enjoys her outreach work and likes the fact that when a victim has a problem, she can share it with the world through Voices for Change. She believes that her role in Voices for Change is important because of her unique position as a survivor. Pheap says she understands the victims' situations because she used to be in their position, and as a result she knows about the problems that exist and wants to help solve them. She especially loves studying English and Khmer and staying at the Voices for Change House. "When I'm here, I feel warm inside," Pheap says. She hopes to study psychology in the future.

Srey Pov

Favorite food: everything!
Favorite music: romantic music and hip-hop
Favorite activity: reading books and studying
Favorite subject: all of the subjects she studies help her to improve, but she sometimes has trouble keeping up with everything!

Srey Pov is currently studying Khmer, English, and computers as part of Voices for Change. She also interns with AFESIP's Outreach/HIV Prevention Team, spending time with women in the brothels and providing them with encouragement and support as well as condoms, personal hygiene lessons and sex education. Due to Srey Pov's position as a former victim and current survivor, she says that she knows how the victims feel and can therefore empathize with them; to her, this is the most important aspect of Voices for Change. She wants the world to know about the victims' feelings and encourage them, because these women and girls don't want to be victims. "If someone is a victim and nobody encourages her, she will be helpless," she says. In the future, Srey Pov hopes to continue to help women and girls affected by trafficking.