Something I found intriguing about the interview was the way Somaly described her relationship to men. She claims that she doesn't hate men, but after getting married she realized she could never love a man. Something else she mentions in the interview but not the book is that she teaches her girls to forgive the men who caused their trauma. "Forgive them," she says. "It's not for them, but for yourself." This struck me as a very different image of Somaly than what I had gotten from the book; in the book she seems extremely angry and bitter about what has happened to her, and even while writing the book, particularly horrible memories still make her want to vomit. I also didn't get the idea that Somaly had forgiven the men who had done those terrible things to her. The fact that she now teaches her young girls to forgive their perpetrators does not make her a hypocrite, but it does somewhat downplay how deeply Somaly has been affected by her life's experiences. I think this shows that despite how much Somaly resents Cambodian culture, it has in some ways allowed her to keep up her work. Instead of focusing on how bad her life has been and retreating in self-pity, she sees herself as only one of many, many victims and focuses instead on how to help whoever she possibly can to the best of her ability.
Another thing I noticed was that in the interview, the media somewhat randomly mentions Buddhism, a religion that "the vast majority of citizens embrace." I don't remember reading anything about Buddhism or karma in Somaly's book; I got the feeling that families sold children into prostitution because of economic reasons, not because of anything to do with a person's "past life." Why was this included in the news report? Was karma mentioned because it "fit," or is this actually a significant cultural phenomenon that contributes to the problem? It's hard to say.
One more thing- I thought about when Somaly said that human rights organizations are bad because all they do is talk. What were her intentions when she wrote, "Lost Innocence"? It is clearly written for a Western audience, the very group she is frustrated with because they don't take action often enough. Yet her goals with the book seem a bit open-ended and vague; the book doesn't seem to be a rallying cry to oppress the people who are exploiting thousands of young girls. She does say (in the interview) that organized crime is extremely organized, whereas those who fight it are often scattered and inactive; however, she offers no potential solution for this problem for the people who read the book or watch the interview. She almost seems to be saying, "I'm doing my part. Now it's your turn to step up."
Interview link: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/february-12-2010/rescuing-child-sex-workers/5684/
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