Breaking Free

Breaking Free: True Stories of Girls Who Escaped Modern Slavery, by award-winning author Abby Sher, explores the global issue of human sex trafficking from a survivor's point of view. It recounts the harrowing stories of three courageous women--Somaly Mam, Minh Dang, and Maria Suarez--who were all forced into sexual slavery as children. After escaping their captors, these three women could easily have become voiceless victims, lost to the horrors of their own histories; instead, they have each become leading advocates and activists in the anti-trafficking movement.

With help from Somaly, Maria, Minh, and many other survivors and counselors, Sher tells the riveting story of what it means to be liberated from sexual trafficking and find the trust and conviction to help educate new survivors. Told with breath-taking honesty and simplicity, Breaking Free: True Stories of Girls Who Escaped Modern Slavery sends the message that, even in the most tragic circumstances, the unwavering hope and compassion of the human spirit can and will shine through.

June 3, 2014

Dear Readers, Students, and Educators:

Breaking Free: True Stories of Girls Who Escaped Modern Slavery recounts the harrowing stories of three women--Somaly Mam, Minh Dang, and Maria Suarez--each of whom have become leading advocates and activists in the anti-trafficking movement.

Within a few weeks of the book's release, Newsweek Magazine published an article (May 30th, 2014 issue) reporting that Somaly Mam had fabricated and embellished her life story. As a result, Somaly Mam has resigned as president of her Foundation.

To say the least, this news came as a complete surprise to us. These accusations are extremely disturbing and disappointing, and we sincerely apologize for any alleged fictitious content in our book regarding Somaly's story. Nonetheless, we continue to believe that the work of Minh, Maria, and other human rights activists and organizations should not be tarnished as a result of these revelations concerning one individual. The work they do to rescue girls who have fallen victim to the scourge of human trafficking can and should be respected, even in light of this recent development.

The author and staff of B.E.S. Educational Series hope that you still find this book to be an informative and thought-provoking call-to-action for all those committed to ending human trafficking.

Sincerely yours,

Abby Sher

The Staff of B.E.S. Educational Series, Inc.