Somaly Mam was born in the Mondulkiri Province of Cambodia in the early 1970s. Her family, part of the minority Pnong ethnic group and living in abject poverty, abandoned her at an early age. Bouncing between caretakers during her prepubescent years, Mam faced discrimination on the basis of her ethnic heritage. At the age of 15, she was sold into sex slavery by a man claiming to be her grandfather. Mam was subsequently raped and tortured on a regular basis and witnessed firsthand the murder of one of her close friends at the brothel where she was forced to work.
