Hey CelebSecrets4U readers,
The event featured a live musical performance and a live/ silent auction. The evening was catered by Crustacean of Beverly Hills and specialty cocktails, including a signature drink created by POM Wonderful. Stars like Renee Olstead, Shenae Grimes and Cassie Scerbo came out to support this wonderful evening for a strong and serious cause.
Sex trafficking is the movement by force or coercion of men, women and children into the commercial sex trade. Here, they can be subject to rape, forced abortions, torture, starvation and threats to family members, and forced to cater to up to 30 clients in a day – with contraception optional. Through a combination of psychological, the victims are bound by their captors: they are modern-day slaves.
Experts estimate that as many as two million women and children are sold each year, and that profits from sex slavery exceed $9.5 billion annually. This is not just a problem of the developing world: it is a global crisis, including the United States.
Somaly Mam is a Cambodian survivor of sex slavery. She was sold at the age of 12. She doesn’t know her age, nor her real name, and she spent nearly a decade in the horrors of Cambodian brothels. But she escaped, and since has aided in the rescue of thousands of women and children. She founded an NGO that rescues, recovers and empowers victims and has become an advocate and global leader in the cause.
