Somaly Mam, feminist anti-slavery activist, has been found to be lying about her own past as a sex slave (never happened), and misuses the children in her care.

Lobstermansunion · 2014-05-29T14:51:37+00:00

Sex worker's rights is one of the causes I pursue besides men's rights.

Unfortunately, some "pro" sex work activists are fairly radical in their anti-male and anti-men's rights opinions. But I can say the same about the LGBT community and I still support them.

nigglereddit · 2014-05-29T10:42:29+00:00

The sex trafficking industry is something of a sacred trope among feminists and social justice warriors, yet there seems remarkably little evidence to actually support the claims.

It's common to see claims that large numbers of women and children are trafficked for sex, yet a major operation in 2009 failed to find a single person who had been trafficked for sex.

Like Somaly Mam's, the stories are gory and lurid - and questioning them seen as unthinkable. But they should be questioned and carefully.

jackrabbitfat · 2014-05-29T11:20:28+00:00

Ohhh, trafficking does happen. Those Pakistani gangs In the UK were banged up for it. Common in the far east, but most trafficked foreign UK prostitutes new they were coming over for the sex trade, so it's not as huge as some people claim.

alaysian · 2014-05-29T18:36:21+00:00

Another former employee of the Somaly Mam Foundation in Cambodia recalls conversations with Mam in which she said she was invincible. “She feels unstoppable. She used to talk to me about wanting to put things in people’s food and how easy it would be to poison someone.

“It was such a traumatic and hostile environment,” the former employee continues. “We were treated very much in a hostile and aggressive way. You’re either part of the group or you’re not, and if you’re not part of the group, bad things can happen to you. And that was said in sometimes very direct terms.”

Because that is what victims of sex trafficking need: someone on a power trip controlling their lives.

Nomenimion · 2014-05-29T22:30:12+00:00

a woman lied about sex crimes to farm sympathy/attention? get the fuck out of here

insaneHoshi · 2014-05-29T19:09:04+00:00

Out of curiosity, why have you labelled her a feminist? The article makes no mention of her feminist leanings or her ascribance to feminist ideology.

One can fight for rights of women, and lie through their teeth without being a feminist.

IMO I find it a bit disgusting that the OP seems to have tailored this situation to get a jab in on Feminism. This sort of bias and bending of the "truth" funnily enough is alike to the feminist tactics im sure we all hate.

thehumungus · 2014-05-29T15:30:13+00:00

This is a horrible story. I've been hearing these huge, horrific, numbers about sex slavery. Now I don't know what to believe.

DavidByron2 · 2014-05-29T14:40:44+00:00

Pross also told her disturbing story on Oprah

Oooooh she lied to Oprah's face and you know what that means right?

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/27/books/27oprah.html

Oh wait. Penis.

No_Nrg · 2014-05-29T13:49:29+00:00

This has nothing to do with men's rights.

NeedzRehab · 2014-05-29T11:05:10+00:00

EDIT 2 READ FIRST - After some research, I discovered that she has just stepped down from the Somaly Mam foundation after this article was published. Also, yes she lied. HOWEVER I will stand by my saying that she helped people. I don't condone what she did whatsoever. But she was a nurse, she did start the AFESIP which helped women and children who were sexually exploited, she founded the Somaly Mam foundation which helps women and girls who have been sexually exploited as well. No, she shouldn't have lied. Yes, there are moral ways to get attention to that cause other than lying. Again, I don't condone her. But sex trafficking is an issue. I work for the government, I know it happens, and I know for a fact it is a huge problem. Light is now shed on the issue more so now because of her work than it was previously. That is all.

While I disagree with her lying, she is very much helping women in need. Call that playing devils advocate if you will, but helping out women should be the focus on why she is renowned, not the fact that she lied.

Consider this: if a man without aids says he had aids and then cures aids, what should we focus on more? His fabricated story, or the fact that he cured a major disease and saved millions of lives?

That's just my opinion, however.

EDIT - After reading the comments, I am researching her and will update with my newest opinion. All I originally had to go on was this article. (I'm new to the whole MRA thing, this was my first post.)

zpatriarchy · 2014-05-29T13:36:54+00:00

it's like an episode from the blacklist

WabbaWay · 2014-05-29T20:37:45+00:00

I don't really understand how this is relevant to /MensRights. Is it an interesting article? Certainly - but it feels like this post is meant to ridicule feminism because of one foolish woman.

Or am I just being paranoid? I honestly can't tell...

shazbottled · 2014-05-29T18:10:03+00:00

It really tarnishes her name and her work done when stuff like this comes out. Unfortunate for her organization and the work she has done

romulusnr · 2014-05-29T21:05:23+00:00

I think I saw this plot on an episode of The Blacklist.

westly99 · 2014-05-31T17:11:54+00:00

Another of Mam’s biggest “stars” was Meas Ratha, who as a teenager gave a chilling performance on French television in 1998, describing how she had been sold to a brothel and held against her will as a sex slave. Late last year, Ratha finally confessed that her story was fabricated and carefully rehearsed for the cameras under Mam’s instruction, and only after she was chosen from a group of girls who had been put through an audition. Now in her early 30s and living a modest life on the outskirts of Phnom Penh, Ratha says she reluctantly allowed herself to be depicted as a child prostitute: “Somaly said that…if I want to help another woman I have to do [the interview] very well.” She, like Pross, was never a victim of sex trafficking; she and a sister were sent to AFESIP in 1997 because their parents were unable to care for all seven of their children.

Nomenimion · 2014-05-29T19:06:28+00:00

Feminists always lie and try to destroy free speech. It's their nature.

Whether it's exploiting children for personal gain or pretending to receive rape threats in order to get some people banned from a message board about comic books, it's the same behavior. All feminist issues, great and small, involve women telling horrible lies about men in order to get what they want.

And they get away with it because this is a liar culture.

protesilaus · 2014-05-29T13:57:27+00:00

This is a fascinating article. Good share!

ThisIsAThrowAway12iu · 2014-05-30T01:59:21+00:00

Hello! Pedophile here. We have been saying this for years. That most information about "sex trafficking" is exaggeration, lies, slander, and imposing of morals. When we said this, people laughed and called us liars, rapists, monsters, rationalizers, etc. Feels good to be right though. Ha oh and I wonder how long it will take people to realize the "all child porn is vicious rape and violent" is also a lie meant to garner favor and money when the truth is... well far from that. Wikileaks has research on the topic, so does Susan Clancy in her book "Harmful to Minors".

The pedophile witch hunt is not merely to attack people like me. It is definitely not for the kids. It was started by sex hating religious folk and man hating feminists. It is mainly an attack on men in general. Sucks that it has to be my base attraction.

Hiscore · 2014-05-29T18:42:59+00:00

I would bet that if she went back around 160 years ago and saw the horrors of African slavery she wouldn't give a shit so long as the slaves were just males.

edieangelo · 2014-05-31T01:30:29+00:00

I have met Somaly Mam and I have followed her story for 7 years. While she may have gotten caught up in the 'star' quality she attained, as any beautiful young woman would, her mission has always been pure. Anything she said or did by exaggerating details of her life in a book written by a hired Ghost Writer, is proof that the human race can ONLY be engaged by sensationalism. Somaly has built schools to educate the girls she has rescued. A compound for those who are too traumatized to return to any kind of normal life. She is training other girls to take over the fight when she is gone. NOTHING can be accomplished in this world without paying somebody off; without frightening people. You need MONEY to accomplish ANYTHING on this jaded planet. "The World is run by Organized Crime." Ahmadinejad. Somaly played the game by THEIR rules and she is the one being punished. I cried all night for her, not because of anything she said or did, but because the only way to win is to lie.

Title	Somaly Mam, feminist anti-slavery activist, has been found to be lying about her own past as a sex slave (never happened), and misuses the children in her care.
Author	[deleted]
Upvotes	431
Comments	113
Date	May 29, 2014 9:52 AM UTC (12 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/MensRights
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/MensRights/comments/26rw49/somaly_mam_feminist_antislavery_activist_has_been/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/MensRights/somaly-mam-feminist-anti-slavery-activist-has-been.1000038 https://theredarchive.com/post/1000038

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