Imagine a single mother moves in next door to you and your family. Her car is rarely there because she’s always at work — a job that completely drains her, but it pays the bills. You watch her son get off the school bus every day with your own kids. You wonder if...
Palma’s name used to be a number. She was one of tens of thousands of girls working in the bars of Thailand’s red-light district. Palma felt like just another face in the crowd, another dancer up on a stage — for sale to the highest bidder. Palma, whose name we’ve...
Christmas is supposed to be a time of celebrating with loved ones. But for many people around the world — it’s a lonely season. I’ve just returned from visiting women in some of Thailand’s largest red-light districts, which, in my opinion, is one of the loneliest...
Ice is only 3 years old. She has her entire life ahead of her, and soon she’ll be dreaming about what she wants to be when she grows up. When I first met Ice in Thailand and looked into her smiling face, I smiled, too. She is absolutely adorable, and she will...
For most of 9-year-old Lawan’s life, she’s had nowhere to really call home. She was born in an impoverished, rural village in Thailand to a mother who was only 14. Her teenage mom did everything she could to take care of Lawan (whose name we’ve changed for privacy),...
