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Fuller 's Investigation : The Holy Saint ( And Sinner ) Of Sex Trafficking

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Fuller’s investigation was seemingly prompted by Simon Marks’ report for Newsweek, “Somaly Mam: The Holy Saint (and Sinner) of Sex Trafficking,” which discredited one of the most highly regarded activists in the anti-trafficking movement. According to Somaly Mam’s bestselling book, she was forced as a child by her grandfather to work in a brothel for roughly a decade. Her story helped raise millions of dollars for the cause, earned her the adoration of numerous A-list Hollywood celebrities, in addition to accolades such as one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people.
On the other hand, Newsweek looked into her background and found her story to be a fraud as several of her classmates and teachers contradicted her claim that she was sold into sexual slavery. In addition, her ex-husband Pierre Legros insisted that Somaly Mam had, in fact, been a prostitute when they first met in 1991, but not a victim of human trafficking. According to Legros, she was working independently of her own free will in various night clubs, as opposed to the torturous conditions of the brothel that she described in her book.
Somaly Mam and her ex-husband, Pierre Legros, co-founded their organization, AFESIP, in 1994. She being the more photogenic and naturally charismatic made her the obvious choice to become the face of their charity. In the process, she helped raise millions of dollars, but too many of Mam’s media appearances have turned out to be complete hoaxes. For instance, she once

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