Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide

Content Warning: This section describes sexual and gender-based violence, medical negligence, and abuse, reflecting the book’s content.

Kristof and WuDunn open with the story of Cambodian teen Srey Rath. At 15, Rath went to Thailand with friends to work as a dishwasher to help support her family who had run into financial troubles. The job agent initially took Rath and her friends to Thailand but then sold them to gang members, who took them to a karaoke lounge—which operated as a brothel—in Malaysia’s capital Kuala Lumpur. Rath initially fought back against the boss and the clients he tried to force her to have sex with. The boss, however, threatened to beat Rath to death and gave her drugs that “induced lethargy, happiness, and compliance” (xii). Fearing death, Rath gave in to the boss’s demands. In the brothel, Rath and the other girls were starved and kept naked to prevent them from running away.

Rath and several other girls eventually escaped. They attempted to go to a police station for help, but the police arrested them for illegal immigration, and Rath spent a year in prison. After serving her prison sentence, Rath was to be repatriated to Cambodia. However, the Malaysian police officer that was supposed to escort her home instead sold her to a brothel in Thailand.