Alison and Sue will endure difficult and undulating terrain with challenging hills. On day 4, and 75 miles out of Phnom Penh, they will ride under the gaze of the formerly notorious Elephant Mountains, where the tree-covered slopes used to conceal a large number of Khmer Rouge guerillas who once preyed on vehicles travelling between the port and the capital, and the place close to where, in 1994, the Khmer Rouge kidnapped and later executed Hong Kong residents, Dominic Chappell and Kellie Wilkinson.
Knowing that men are raping 5 and 6 year old girls and pimps are sewing them up again so they can be resold as "virgins", is Alison and Sue's drive to do what they're doing and they're determined to make a difference in the lives of such innocent children. Girls as young as three years old are being sold into sexual slavery for as little as US$50. |
Alison and Sue are cycling with 12 other riders from Australia and the US to raise awareness and funds for the Somaly Mam Foundation. Somaly Mam was CNN Hero of the Year in 2006 and one of Time Magazine's Most Influential People in 2009.
Sold into sexual slavery at about 12 years old, she began a decade of horrific rape and torture. Traffickers hope that with enough pain and degradation, women will simply accept their fate as inescapable, but Mam was able to escape with the help of an aid worker from France. |
Angelina Jolie is a Goodwill Ambassador for the U.N. High Commission for Refugees and co-chair of the Jolie-Pitt Foundation and has written about Somaly Mam and Susan Sarandon has joined Somaly Mam to help put an end to sexual slavery.
These are women supporting women, and on 8th March, Alison and Sue will partake in the International Women's Day festivities in Siem Reap. The theme for IWD 2012 is 'Connecting Girls and Inspiring Futures' and what better year to embark on such a physically demanding, grueling and significant challenge? Trafficking is a problem around the world - it is awful and horrific and the silence must be broken. You can make a difference! |
