Half The Sky Analysis

For this class, we had to watch the first part of Half the Sky. The documentary went on to expose some of modern sex trafficking and slavery. We followed several famous actresses as they went to different locations around the world and zeroed in on specific regions and shined light on individuals and their truly unfortunate stories as many were forced into brothels. One of the persons stories that was really brought to light was Somaly Mam’s.
Somaly Mam is a Cambodian woman who tells her story in the documentary. She works as an activist against modern slavery but more so fights for females who have been traded and trapped into sex trafficking. She initially started the fight by going in brothels herself to help the endangered girls and eventually became the Somaly Mam Foundation. She was incredibly effective at communication with the young woman and connected with them because of her past experiences. In the video Somaly explains that she was taken at a very young age and forced into sex trafficking. She was left with many mysteries about her life with not knowing much about herself or where she comes from. She doesn’t know who her parents are, how old she is or even her own birth name. Because of her past and coming from a similar sex trafficking background Somaly has the ability
It all started when people began to question the legitimacy of Somaly’s story and background. She came under heavy fire from critics and had a hard time clearing her name. Even the website that was not run by Mam herself never addressed her critics which eventually led to Samaly Mam to leave her foundation and create a new one. After she left the Samoly Mam Foundation lost several financial supporters. The website was manged by Mam’s friends “who recognize the good she has done in the anti-human trafficking and slavery movement, and that these people would want her to continue to do