Exposed: The Scandalous Story of Sex Work in Cambodia

This essay examines the recent scandal that engulfed the Cambodian anti-trafficking activist, Somaly Mam, who was accused of fabricating tales of abduction and prostitution in her memoir, Le Silence de l'innocence (2005). In my reading of Mam's memoir, I focus on the tropes of silence and voice in the narrative as well as in the context of its initial reception and eventual denunciation in order to offer some preliminary thoughts on the appeal and limitations of the testimonial narrative within the global rescue industry. I finish by examining the implications of Mam's narrative and its alleged falsehoods for the women on whose behalf she claims to speak. Rather than attempt to determine whether Mam has told the truth, I take this scandal as an occasion to explore the problem of evidentiary versus narrative truths in the literary testimony and the ways in which various truths are mobilized and silenced when the literary testimony intersects with the human rights campaign.