Today, March 8th, is International Women's Day and, in the spirit of advocating women's rights everywhere, the New York Chapter of the Somaly Mam Foundation kicked off a fantastic fashion and beauty Ebay auction — 25% of the proceeds of will fund the Cambodia-based Somaly Mam Foundation foundation's outstanding work in raising awareness about human trafficking and rescuing victims of the sex trade, and 75% will benefit the newly-founded NYC Chapter's efforts to create more awareness programs.
Those of you who are unfamiliar with the foundation, here's some background. Somaly Mam is a heroic activist who herself survived the sex trade: as a young girl in Cambodia, she was sold into sexual slavery and subsequently taken to live in a brothel an forced to engage in sexual acts with customers. After many years of being beaten, raped, tortured and abused, Mam managed to escape the hellish world. In 1996, she created the Somaly Man Foundation, which rescues victims of the sex slave trade and provides them with counseling, work training, work placement opportunities and more.Over the years, Mam has emerged as one of the strongest, most passionate advocates of the often forgotten masses of men and women who are kidnapped, sold and traded as cattle and forced to live as sexual slaves. Seriously, watch this NY Times video — it'll make the hair on your arms stand up.
This is an incredibly important cause since human trafficking is a vile crime that's rarely addressed. To put things in perspective, check the stats: human trafficking is the second largest form of organized crime, generating over $12 billion yearly. Twelve billion dollars. Imagine that. And we don't live in a world where what happens in Taken is the norm — a Liam Neeson lookalike with extensive mercenary training won't be coming to rescue all these victims. It's up to us, collectively, to raise global awareness about this heinous underground trade. This charity auction will help the Somaly Mam Foundation in Cambodia raise the funds it needs to continue its work. By participating, you, too, are becoming a human rights advocate.
Up for the taking are quite a few A-list prizes: over $1000 worth of Givenchy products (like the Givenchy Prismissime palette, Givenchy Le Soin Noir and Givenchy Radically No Surgetics cream pictured above); tickets to Diane Von Furstenberg's Spring 2010 runway show, a complete assortment of products from Dior's L'Or de Vie skincare line; an autographed Anya Hindmarch purse, a free three-month membership to Equinox Fitness; VIP tickets to a live taping of the Rachel Ray Show; a gift bag from Sephora; a Guerlain gift set; a Fresh Sugar gift set; an assortment of Frederic Fekkai hair styling products; and more.
The auction is up now, so make sure to check it out at Stores.Shop.Ebay.com/TheSomalyFoundation.com
