SREY RATH

SREY RATH

YOUNG, BEWILDERED, PREY OF EVIL
VICTIM OF 21ST CENTURY VERSION
OF SLAVERY, I WILL TELL YOUR STORY

WHO WILL LISTEN? WHO WILL CARE?
YOUNG GIRLS OF FIFTEEN
DESCENDANTS OF POL POT’S REGIME

WHO WILL PROTECT THEM? WHO WILL HEED
THEIR PLIGHT? NICHOLAS KRISTOF
AND I WILL. ARE THERE ANY OTHERS?

SREY WANTED TO GET A GIFT FOR HER MOTHER
TO CELEBRATE THE CAMBODIAN
NEW YEAR, TO THAILAND SHE WENT FOR TWO MONTHS

TRAFFICKERS, TRAFFICKERS IN HUMAN FLESH
HAD OTHER PLANS FOR HER
AND HER FOUR FEMALE FRIENDS, TAKING THEM

TO KUALA LUMPUR, TO A KARAOKE LOUNGE WHICH
WAS A BROTHEL, INSTEAD OF A
DISHWASHER, SREY WAS ORDERED TO HAVE SEX

HELL BEGAN FOR THESE GIRLS WHO WERE LOCKED
UP, WORKED FOR FIFTEEN HOURS
A DAY AS PROSTITUTES, SEVEN DAYS A WEEK

NEVER PAID WERE THEY, JUST GIVEN FOOD BUT
NOT TOO MUCH AS THE CUSTOMERS
WEREN’T ATTRACTED TO FAT GIRLS, THEY COULDN’T

EVER USE CONDOMS, THINK OF THIS LIFE AMERICAN
TEENAGERS WHEN YOU’RE MAD
AT YOUR PARENTS FOR TRIVIAL THINGS IN COMPARISON

HOW LUCKY YOU ARE, YOU WHO ARE DEPRESSED
WHO LIVE IN LUXURIOUS HOMES,
HAVE PLENTY OF FOOD TO EAT, ALWAYS DIETING

THINK OF SREY RATH AND HER FRIENDS, YOU LIVE
ON THE SAME PLANET BUT NOT IN
THE SAME WORLD. IS IT A MATTER OF LUCK?

THE GIRLS WOULD BE MURDERED IF THEY TRIED TO ESCAPE
BUT ESCAPE WAS THEIR ONLY HOPE
BRAVELY, COURAGEOUSLY, DARINGLY, BOLDLY, AUDACIOUSLY

THEY PRIED A BOARD OFF FROM A DRYING RACK
PUT IT OUT THE WINDOW TO THE
ADJOURNING BUILDING AND CREPT ACROSS IT


TEN FLOORS UP, DOES THIS MAKE THE FEAR FACTOR
LAUGHABLE, THEY KNEW THEY
COULD DIE BUT THEY’D DIE IN THE BROTHEL AS WELL

MAKE IT THEY ALL DID AND TOOK THE ELEVATOR DOWN
OUTSIDE THEY FOUND A POLICE STATION
WITH SOME OF THE WORST SCUM YET ON THIS BLEEDING PLANET

AT FIRST THE POLICEMAN TURNED THEM AWAY BUT LATER
ARRESTED THEM FOR ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
SREY SPENT A YEAR IN A MALAYSIAN PRISON, UPON HER

RELEASE, MORE NIGHTMARES ENSUED AS A MALAYSIAN POLICEMAN
SOLD HER TO A TAXI CAB DRIVER WHO SOLD HER
TO A THAI MAN OF LAW WHO SOLD HER TO A THAI WHORE HOUSE

SREY WAS THANKFULLY ABLE TO BREAK OUT AGAIN AND SUCCESSFULLY
MADE IT HOME TO HER ANXIOUS PARENTS. AMERICAN
AID FOR CAMBORDIA SPENT FOUR HUNDRED DOLLARS, BUYING FOR HER

A CART WITH VARIOUS TRINKETS, NECKLACES, BELTS TO SELL. SREY IS
NOW AN ENTREPRENEUR MAKING MONEY FOR
HERSELF AND HER FAMILY. THIS STORY HAS A HAPPY ENDING

NOT LIKE SOME WHERE THE GIRLS HAVE TO REVERT TO SELLING
THEMSELVES AGAIN. THINK TWICE WHEN YOU
SEE A BEAMING FACE OFFERING YOU SOMETHING TO BUY

PURCHASE A FEW TRINKETS FROM AS MANY AS POSSIBLE BECAUSE
YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU’RE SAVING THEM
FROM, YOU’RE GIVING THEM A PRICELESS COMMODITY, THE ABILITY

TO CHOOSE WHAT THEY DO WITH THEIR LIFE, FREEDOM FROM
COERCION FROM PREDATORS WHO PLAGUE
THEM, A CHANCE TO LIVE, BE FREE, WITH THEIR FAMILY AND FRIENDS

IS THIS ASKING TOO MUCH? WE NEED TO EMANCIPATE THOUSANDS
OF GIRLS LIVING CAGED UP AS ANIMALS
FOR THE PLEASURES OF MONEY-PAYING MEN AS THEIR CLIENTS

AND THE EVIL PURSUERS WHO LURE, CAPTIVATE, CAPTURE THEM,
THE INNOCENT, NAÏVE YOUNGS GIRLS OF THE
THIRD WORLD WHO DESPERATELY CRY OUT FOR OUR HELP

Thanks To Nicholas Kristof for this story I read in the New York Times on January 26, 2005.
I have borrowed some words and phrases from your amazing piece of journalism.