The Road of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam

Accompanied by a man she identifies only as 'Grandfather,' she trundled past stilted homes inhabited by tribal villagers and forests that were home to sacred spirits. But she has repeatedly claimed that her tragic tale of abuse began in 1979 with a voyage through the rolling hills of Mondulkiri, a part of Cambodia that back then was still dense forest. Mam declined to be interviewed by Newsweek for this article and has declined numerous requests for comment since I started reporting on inconsistencies in her stories in 2012. But one girl…she refused to do what he asked to do so he take a gun and kill her, so that is the day that I have been escaped from the brothel.' The brothel owner bring us all together, we all sit on the ground, and he tell us we have to do what he ask us to do. 'I stayed in the brothel nearly then 10 years. 'I have been sold in the brothel by the man who come and tell me that he's my grandfather,' she said. In 2011, Mam sat down with Sandberg at Fortune magazine's Most Powerful Women summit and told the hushed audience what had motivated her to become a crusader against sexual slavery. She has done so much for so many, does it matter that key parts of her story aren't true? This is a story about a story-but not quite the amazing one Mam has been telling at cocktail parties in Manhattan and Beverly Hills, or on The Tyra Banks Show. Mam was one of Time's 100 most influential people in 2009 and has over 400,000 followers on Twitter. In 2005, she published her autobiography, The Road of Lost Innocence, which became an international best-seller. Her story becomes even more inspiring when you hear her shocking tale of being sold into sexual slavery. Mam claims to have rescued thousands of girls and women from sex trafficking, a dangerous and formidable feat. One day she will be speaking at the White House, and the next day she'll be enthralling schoolchildren in a remote corner of Cambodia.

Mam has raised millions with a hectic schedule of meetings all over the globe with the good, the great and the super-rich-from the U.N.'s Ban Ki-moon to the pope. Mark Zuckerberg's former PR guru, Brandee Barker, whom The New York Times recently described as 'perhaps the most sought-after image consultant in the startup world,' is a board member for the Somaly Mam Foundation, and Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg is an advisory board member. Queen Sofia of Spain has for years promoted Mam's cause and even visited her in the hospital last year when she fell ill. secretary of state Hillary Clinton and actresses Meg Ryan, Susan Sarandon and Shay Mitchell, as well as New York Times Pulitzer-winning columnist Nicholas Kristof, have all toured AFESIP centers in Cambodia. Mam is one of the world's most compelling activists, brave and beautiful, and her list of supporters is long and formidable.

The Road of Lost Innocence by Somaly Mam