Road of Lost Innocence

These days we are all aware of the hardships that many people around the world have to endure on a daily basis; issues such as poverty, famine and an absence of medical care to name a few. And while we have knowledge that these issues exist, there is still more to it than simply the lack of simple necessities that most of us in the west now take for granted. In reading The Road to Lost Innocence I was surprised to discover how much deeper it goes than merely access to basic amenities. Somaly Mam describes to us how the culture in Cambodia was different in relation to the community. In particular that there is an expectation of silence among the people, you do not talk about your problems and must keep everything to yourself. In a society where children are beaten daily, sold into harsh physical labour, or rented out as prostitutes, this conformity to silence appears only to benefit those that commit these terrible acts.

More shocking though, is the apparent detachment present among family, friends and neighbours. Not only does nobody speak up about these kinds of activities, they are often perpetrated among families or neighbours. To live with poverty and disease is one thing, but to do so with parents who think of you only as a way to make some money, as a tool to be rented out or sold, is something that I could not begin to imagine. With much of the Cambodian population in debt, selling daughters into prostitution is commonplace. By the rules of their society, girls are forced to obey utterly their parents or masters, those who would gladly condemn them to a life of suffering for their own profit. As Somaly herself describes it; children are, to their parents, often nothing more than livestock.

As someone who grew up in Britain, the plight of less developed countries, such as Cambodia, is not unknown to me. But what has been revealing are the crimes against humanity that are acted out among the people who live there. 'Family values' and similar ideas do not cost any money nor require any material goods, so I would still expect to find these concepts alive and well - especially in such hard conditions where you would expect people to pull together to survive.