A review by arieltf
The Road of Lost Innocence: The True Story of a Cambodian Heroine by Somaly Mam

1.0

This was hard to read. The writing wasn't difficult, but reading about the pain in Somaly Mam's life and about the lives of the survivors she has worked to rescue made me feel very sad and helpless. I would still recommend this book to people who want to learn more about human trafficking, but I will add a giant trigger warning for rape and violence. Somaly Mam does not exaggerate, everything is explained simply and clearly, but even so, she writes about the shocking brutalities she has undergone, as well as the brutalities the women and children at her shelters have faced.

I edited this review upon the discovery that much of Somaly Mam's well-known life story is a giant fabrication. It is important for people to understand why these fabrications are toxic and irresponsible.

Somaly Mam’s resignation from the Somaly Mam Foundation and why it matters

Somaly Mam recently resigned from the Somaly Mam Foundation, a non-profit that rehabilitates girls and women in Cambodia who have escaped from human trafficking, following affirmations that her personal experiences being trafficked, her memoir, and the stories of many young women who claim to have been rescued from human trafficking by her foundation were fabricated.

Many responses I have seen have been in support of Mam and her work. “I don’t care what she’s done in the past and I don’t care that she lied, she’s doing good work now and that’s all that matters.”

Most people fail to realize when fabrications about experiences like this are discovered, they cast doubt on all other survivors who are trying to tell their stories. These lies lead people to believe even more that survivors sharing their trauma are doing it for attention, publicity, or profit. The inflated number of false accusations in sex crimes is a pervasive myth that is thrown at all survivors who come forward, and stories like this only further that misconception.

I have not seen any statements from Somaly Mam apologizing to the young women she pressured into lying for the sake of pulling in donations for her foundation. She should apologize to them and to survivors who are currently attempting to recover and overcome stigma in order to share their truths despite being surrounded by a culture of doubt that will attempt to silence and shame them.

What she did was absolutely not okay. Her significant accomplishments in rescuing and rehabilitating survivors of sex trafficking should not be used to excuse her actions. Her foundation, Half the Sky, and other projects she has had a part in will be tainted by this lie. We were fooled, but her actions should not be disregarded or defended.

Review originally published Aug. 22, 2012
Edited July 1, 2014