SCV: How is that they don’t care?
JM: Well unlike in the Western world were we have these understood values, such values are not permeated through society in Cambodia. After many years of having been subjected to the Khmer Rouge and the resultant atrocities regard for life is trivial at best. In a way you really can’t blame these people, they don’t know any better and war and terror has an interesting way of destabilizing notions that we take for common in the Western world.
SCV: So what happens, these girls are kidnapped? They become sex workers at the age of five? How can this be? Surely the authorities know about this? Why isn’t more being done?
JM: They are kidnapped, and sometimes sold by their families for as little as ten dollars. It’s ingrained in their culture. I don’t think they willingly do it. Desperate times call for desperate measures. And yes more should be done, and by presenting this dialogue we can from over here impart some changes in that part of the world.
SCV: Shouldn’t we be forcing our government here to force sanctions, trade embargoes on the government there?
JM: It’s very similar to what goes in Darfur, Sudan. We have to bring awareness to such practices and strive to help these girls and force change. Yet you really have to understand one of the reasons this continues is because it’s a cultural phenomenon and this ultimately requires a re alignment of values, something not easy to do when you have been subjected to horrific destruction and exploitation.
SCV: Nevertheless, it’s shocking to read that a seven year old girl can end up servicing up to thirty girls a day. I can’t begin to manage to understand what happens to these girls psyches.
JM: A lot of these girls are forever damaged. A lot of them die before they reach the age of twenty. They are treated and have become expendable cattle. Yet there are girls who do survive, who come out, who are rescued. It is these girls who then go on to lead the fight for change. Of course there are girls too even if they are rescued they are just a living shell.
SCV: Tell me about the picture of the girls with the knife wounds on the inside of their arms?
JM: In order to survive their captivity these girls turn to amphetamines. What happens is that during moments of extended use these girls resort to self manipulation by slitting the inside of their wrists. I wouldn’t have known had one of the girls not reacted to me showing me her tattoos. It was a cry for help.
SCV: How is that the media is not paying enough (or any?) attention on what’s happening over in Cambodia?
JM: I think part of the problem is that what happens in places like Cambodia is so removed from what we experience here. We live in a very self absorbed culture, and I don’t think it’s very easy to consume the heartache of others.
SCV: Doesn’t it present a moral dilemma that we in the Western world are not getting involved? After all you just told me one can go shopping for girls by age bracket the way one goes shopping for fast food here.
JM: It’s certainly an issue that warrants our attention. However it’s never easy to change the policies of another part of the world. That said, bringing awareness and forcing a dialogue and some sort of sanctity and opportunity for the girls who make it out is very important in forcing change.
i guess you lost your ability to spell as well, or is it your bowel movements that fuel your failed rhetoric?
Lorenzino…ascolta me!
“Perhaps my idea of peace is your idea of chaos, maybe that is the case, “BUT I EXIST IN ALL OF YOU.”
———Lorentchi you are’ righteh’…(“hai ragione”) You existed in me in the mornig right before my esspresso… And after I had my bowel movement you don’t exist in me anymore!
lorenzo, you are an asshole
“I’m sorry, but no one can help those women but themselves. As far as I’m concerned we all have a choice to be whatever it is we are. “They don’t know they have rights…” Please. cut the shit. Human’s are born into egotism and its that egotism that pushes for personal freedom. You wanna be a slave, be a slave. Your choice. In fact, many people enjoy it. ”
OK Lorenzo. Point made and taken. Somaly had a choice to be whatever it is she was. She chose to be a child prostitute and decided to stay in that position for as long as she did, she eventually made the choice to get out. Once out, she looked back at where she had been and recognized others like herself who wanted to make the same decision as she did but maybe weren’t quite sure where to start. So she made the decision herself (mind you she is not a Westerner, and I have no idea what brand her bed is or how much her lotion is or if she uses it on her legs or maybe just her arms) to go back and help in any way she can. I’m betting that she wasn’t afraid of any Cambodian prison because there were pimps who envisioned harsher tortures for her and I’m pretty sure she lived through worse anyways.
So while every night I go to bed on a $70 mattress I bought off craigslist right after rubbing my legs down with Johnson and Johnson’s lotion (you can get really sweet deals on in it at Duane Reade with coupons in the Sunday papers-so yes, it is really cheap) and hope that I don’t have nightmares of what Cambodian prisons might be like, because yeah, I’m f*ckin’ terrified of what they might be like (in general I’m a sort of scared of dying. In general I’m a big wuss)…while this is all going on Somaly is pushing forward trying to change one part of the world, one part of her life.
So, you’re right. I’m not bringing about any sort of change at all. You’re totally right. And neither is Jennifer. This website isn’t even doing it. Its all Somaly’s doing. She’s the one who started it. She’s the one who brought attention to it. She’s the one who made the decision to change her life. “It’s the will of it’s people that will bring about it’s change”. Indeed you are absolutely correct Lorenzo. Somaly’s will and all the wills of the people in Cambodia who are helping these slaves, former slaves, etc…
All of us Westerners out here throwing a party to raise money to give to Somaly so she can go about doing what she does to save lives are just pawns in her little game. Ha, I’ve chosen to be used in this way. That’s fine by me. I’ve been used for worse by worse people.
“The roles that we are assigned in life are the roles we’re meant for. Everything is just as it should be and Jennifer Macfarlane needs those children to be whores just as much as their pimps do.” Well hmmm…now I’m not sure if you mean we are assigned the roles and we have no choice, or if like the child whores have a choice in our assignment…Well then, Jennifer’s role is to be the photographer who needs those child whores so she can take pictures no one wants to buy. If that’s her purpose in life, she’s lucky to have been assigned it or chosen it, at such a young age. So be it. She’s pretty damn good at it I guess. Somaly has been assigned or chose the role of being lifesaver for lack of a better term. She will save only the ones who want to be saved (because like you said there are some child whores who probably reallly dig what life assigned them and would rather hang out and stay put). Ok fine then. I’m down with that. My role (that I think I chose since you said people choose whatever it is we are to be, but maybe it was assigned to me since you also made that point) is to be one of those Westerners throwing down $40 to drink and dance while a child is spear roasted. So what if there was no way to help the people who died while I shook my bootie on the dance floor? I’m guessing my $40 will eventually make its way to Somaly and she’ll be able to use it to save someone in the future. That’s fine by me.
“There is no challenge in having a party to raise awareness or taking photos or giving interviews. They are all convenient sacrifices that ultimately sum up to patting oneself on the back. ” Well duh. That’s why throwing a party is a brilliant way to raise money for a cause. Because its easy. Really easy. A helluva lot easier than a bake sale (because really, I can’t bake). Who cares if the only reason people show up is to pat themselves on the back? Who cares what the patrons of the party come away with or why they’re there. The real deal is what does the foundation come away with, and that will hopefully be a whole heap of money they can use to save the child whores who choose to be saved or assigned to be saved.
“Perhaps my idea of peace is your idea of chaos, maybe that is the case, but i exist in all of you.” Yeah you exist in me. The way you feel about this is similar to how I feel about Starbucks and their committment to be a “green” company.
“I will see you all pretend to be brave, i will see you all pretend to give a shit, i will see you all dance while an 8 year old girl gets spear roasted. Oh how i will see, such fools that you are.”
I can’t lie or act at all. I’m terrible at it. So if you happen to catch me pretending to be brave or giving a shit let me in on my own acting secret please. Yeah, you will probably see what a fool I am. I’m a total dork when I dance. But hey, I’ll get to walk away patting myself on my back because I indirectly gave $40 to the sister/mother/cousin/brother/father/bestfriend/grandmother/ of the 8 year girl who was spear roasted so that that sister/mother/cousin/brother/father/bestfriend/grandmother/ can choose or be assigned to be saved.
I can live with that.
Such sycophancy.
Such narcism…
The roles that we are assigned in life are the roles we’re meant for. Everything is just as it should be and Jennifer Macfarlane needs those children to be whores just as much as their pimps do.
You claim that it is your mandate to “force” change and say that I terrify YOU when this very statement is a fundamental principle of what westerners consider terror or terrorism. There is no challenge in having a party to raise awareness or taking photos or giving interviews. They are all convenient sacrifices that ultimately sum up to patting oneself on the back. You call my way a disregard for human life when human life disregards itself. Perhaps my idea of peace is your idea of chaos, maybe that is the case, but i exist in all of you.
And dear sir, I will buy my own ticket thank you very much. I will see you all pretend to be brave, i will see you all pretend to give a shit, i will see you all dance while an 8 year old girl gets spear roasted. Oh how i will see, such fools that you are.
Don’t worry, such a view is not prevalent.
My parents are from the third world, and I am thrilled to be an American. Something that really strikes me about this country is our right to the pursuit of happiness; we take it for granted, but in many cultures this isn’t considered a right. Throw physical and mental abuse into this vaccuum and this changes people’s understanding of what they can attain and even what they deserve.
Probably Lorenzo thinks that slavery in America is a fond memory for African Americans, filled with calorie burning labor, lots of sexy rapin’ and simple livin’.
People like Lorenzo aren’t the reason this problem still exists – unfortunately it’s the hundreds of millions of people who simply do nothing because they would rather not think about it – this is the problem. So thanks to everyone on this message board who took the time to do something or educate themselves!! (I bt a ticket but won’t be going……)
What a misconceived point of view. I really am outraged that such a view is prevalent. Children do not know what freedoms they have available to them. They do not have they type of egos you call for. Children to not have the mental faculties to appreciate that they have freedom of choice.How can they when all they understand what they are told and physically coerced into doing.
A chilkd never asks to be a slave. Children who are forced to ‘service’ up to 15-30 Westerners a day do not do it willingly. Theyare coerced. Their is no will in the matter.
I am terrified that people like Lorenzo walk around with this mindset. It’s peoplke like you Lorenzo who allow such said abuses to continue. It’s people like you who have disregard for life and a misunderstanding for people be it in Chelsea or wherever who are trying to raise awareness and funds. Funds to help provide these people in captivity some semblance of humanity.
It is our mandate to force changes where injustice prevails Lorenzo, do not shirk from such challenges. Dear sir, I will buy you a ticket out of my own pocket, please come and see for yourself.
You can see, or do you not have the will to see…?
I’m sorry, but no one can help those women but themselves. As far as I’m concerned we all have a choice to be whatever it is we are. “They don’t know they have rights…” Please. cut the shit. Human’s are born into egotism and its that egotism that pushes for personal freedom. You wanna be a slave, be a slave. Your choice. In fact, many people enjoy it.
It’s always some comfortable westerner who travels to the third worlds and thinks that they have found their cause. “I can help”…”I’m gonna show the world these atrocities”…”I must raise awareness” Puh-lease. This place, like darfur, like tibet, whichever, whatever – It’s the will of it’s people that will bring about it’s change, not the will of some other who sleeps on an ikea futon with cheap moisturizer on her legs and considers this ruffing it.
So you’re there – you see all this done to your fellow human – you’re outraged. I say fight back. Oh what? Afraid to go to a Cambodian prison Afraid they’ll kill you? So i guess it’s not a cause worth dying for. I’d bet an American martyr would do far more for their cause than a dance in Chelsea adorned with life size photos of hookers that nobody wants to buy.
What an eye opener. Very amazing article.
I love that Janera quoted me verbatim from Facebook to promote the event. I couldn’t just tell my friends to go to the event because it would change their life, or even to see amazing pictures and meet incredible people and it would be fun. People are so over that. Unfortunately, in our little hole in the world, people are a bit sheltered and disconnected from such stories as this, myself included. During a recession we balk at the idea of throwing down $40-$50 for any door cover but don’t think twice about buying something on sale from $100 to $40 because its a good deal. I’m sure the pimps out there often give their Johns a good deal on the girls lowering the price down from $1.00 to $0.40 for a sweet virginal 9 year old girl.
Hmmm…that new dress at Banana Republic on sale for $40 that fits me oh so well…or helping to save a young girl’s life who for just the luck of the draw happened to be born in her body in that place instead of my body in my place.
It’s a slap in my own face that the decision to be made was even a flicker in my brain waves.
Please expound; Scallywag!
Best,
Ghurron Briscoe
If you were planning on going out this weekend and blowing $40-$50 on getting drunk at some lame bar or snarfing down on a crazy New York sized meal at some ritzy restaurant, or buying a new pair of shoes that will fall apart after 5 months of city walking…consider this alternative for spending your money.
I beg to differ. We think you are amazing!
pardon my french….but i just read the entire article…and it is fxxxxxg amazing
thank you for making sense of what i said!
sorry i was so rushed on the phone…i have been on the road for a week only sleeping a few hours a night…ahhh
but thank you again…this is great what you are doing!!!
cannot wait to meet you on thurs