Mayra Castaneda

English 102
Professor Jillian Abbott
Formal Assignment Two
Somaly is cambodia a woman that suffered a lot through her life. She lives in Cambodia.
She was a victim of many types of abuses. She never met nobody that can help her to not suffer
anymore. Somaly had her adoptives family of course but they were not so much help for her
either.
First she was an abandoned child that lived in the forest. She met a family how
sometimes feed and bath her. But then, this family sell he to a man who they called Somalys
grandfather who abused of her for years. e too! Somaly to a strange place and ma!e her
wor!ed for him. Somaly found a new adoptive family there in the new town. "hey made her go
to school and gave her love. Sadly,Somaly got raped because her grandfather needed to pay a
debt to the man who raped Somaly.
#fter that nothing got better for Somaly, she ended up in a brothel when she was forced
to be a prostitute. er grandfather sold her to pay for the debts he had with the brothel. $hen he
died Somaly felt free after years of abuse. "he problem with Somaly in that moment was that she
could not leave to being a prostitute because she did not what else to do.
She finally meet %ierre, and after a period of time she decided to married him to move to
%aris France. She decided to be with him because he spo!e her language and to obtain the French
&isa . "he couple were happy in France, Somaly learned to defended herself and be a strong
woman. She decided that nobody will hurt her again.
%eter decided to come bac! to Cambodia and there is where Somaly started to defend
women who were abused and forced to be a prostitute li!e her. She found a place where any girl
will have help to not suffer the abuses Somaly suffered.
Somaly decided not to be 'uiet. She decided to fight for all those women. "hat is what
helped Somaly to raised her voice in the Cambodian society. She felt so fed up from all the
abuse she suffered that she does not want nobody go through the same. She wants to be the voice
for all the women who does not have one.
"he methods that she used combat this conspiracy of silence was helping women to
spea!. She went to the brothels and as!ed if anybody needed help. She founded Somaly
foundation (ust to help those women. She started giving soups to the women and taught them
about S")s. She then helped many girls to started a new life.
Somaly is a strong woman who is willing to use any method (ust to see women being free
and not to suffer the same things she did. She also as!ed the authorities to stop helping covering
up the brothels. She made many countries !now about what was going on in Cambodia. Somaly
showed how young girls from five up to seventeen years old were obligated to prostitute
themselves.
She brought up helped and hope to those women. She got help from the *+ to stop the
corrupted system of Cambodia. She taught people to tal! and to defend themselves. $omen in
the brothels were not afraid anymore to spea! to her and as! for help.
"hat is how Somaly brea! the silence in Cambodia. She made sure that anybody who
needed help were listening and supported them to start a new life.
Somaly was an abused woman and the same with ,osa and Sophia. "hese women were
scared to spea! and defend themselves. "hey were so afraid to get !ill that two of them lost their
children. "hey never have the courage to stop their abusers.
Silence is what made them to suffer. ,osa was afraid her daughter were end up being
!ill. She never spo!e to nobody about -agda after she died. ,osa was 'uiet and only thin!ing
about -agda that she forgot to moved on and started a new life. Silence and pain were their
enemies who almost drove her cra.y. Finally she moved on than!s to her friend %ers!y. She
bro!e the silence and say to herself and the world that magda was gone.
Sophie also suffered the loss of a children. She moved to a new country to start a new
life. But once again she never spo!e up to stop the abuses from her new boyfriend, +atham . She
let him to abused of her. Sophie thought she deserved all that. #nd she remained silence even
when her boyfriend tortured her physically and mentally. $hen she finally spo!e to Stingo
about her life during the olocaust is when Sophie sowed all her sadness she had inside. She
ended !illing herself from all the pain silence brought into her life .
"hen we have Somaly, a little girl who could not spea! to defend herself. #fter many
years she finally found the courage to spea! for other and defend people who could not spea!
and remained silent as her in her young life.
$hat these three women have in common is that silence really affected their life
somehow. "hey never spo!e up. "hey remained silence and for that they suffered a lot. "hey
were victims of the own silence because silence can destroy you more than anything.