Somaly Mam

Somaly Mam is about a young girl who explains her story of what happened throughout her life. She thought of herself as "ugly" because she was dark skinned, because you are considered beautiful when you have a light complexion. She was put in this situation because the man she was living with most likely sold her. She referred to this man as "grandfather"and because he "belonged" to her she was his "indentured servant". What he does is rent out her labor for living with him. He jobs were first to fetch water for people then her grandfather owed money to a merchant and sent her to his house where she had her first sexual encounter. She was still very young when this happened and thought that he had been stabbing her with a knife. Her grandfather also molested her, but because she didn't know exactly what was going on she thought they had been punishing her. As she got older, she was sold to a soldier and forced to marry him. She wanted to get a job so she worked at a clinic. He didn't really approve of her working and always beat her and felt like she wasn't married, but more of his servant.