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  • Published: 14 December 2021
  • ISBN: 9789814954341
  • Imprint: PRH SEA
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 296
  • RRP: $27.99
Categories:

A Long Road to Justice

Stories from the Frontlines in Asia



A journalistic account of the abuse and enslavement of women and girls in Asia

A constant stream of impoverished women and girls have been, and are being, enslaved and abused in the Asia Pacific region. Slavery is not a historical issue - it's happening today. History is repeating itself.
Through Sylvia Yu Friedman's work in journalism, counter-trafficking and philanthropy, she has had rare and incredible access to victims of sex trafficking and modern slavery in China, Thailand, Cambodia, North Korea, South Korea, Myanmar and Indonesia.
Amid this terrible human suffering, she has seen frontline workers carrying a great light that has overcome the darkness in some of the most frightening places on Earth. This memoir describes her personal journey in the fight against slavery through supporting philanthropic initiatives and raising awareness through writing articles and producing films. She shares her personal setbacks, and how her awakening to the plight of the victims of Imperial Japanese sex slavery during World War II helped her come to terms with her identity issues over her Korean heritage. She writes about the lessons - the good, the bad, and the ugly - and the people and events that have shaped her along the way.

  • Published: 14 December 2021
  • ISBN: 9789814954341
  • Imprint: PRH SEA
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 296
  • RRP: $27.99
Categories:

About the author

Sylvia Yu Friedman

Sylvia Yu Friedman is an award-winning filmmaker, investigative journalist, international speaker, serial entrepreneur, and advisor to philanthropists.
She is the author of two books: Silenced No More: Voices of Comfort Women, the only journalistic account of Japanese military sex slavery during the Second World War, and Heart and Soul: The Life Story of Pastor Augustus Chao. The first editions of both of these books sold out, and the former was #5 on the Amazon Kindle store's Asian History bestseller list in August 2018.
In 2017, Sylvia was listed in Assent Compliance's 'Top 100 Human Trafficking & Slavery Influence Leaders'. In 2013, she won the prestigious International Human Rights Press Award for her three-part documentary series on human trafficking in China, Hong Kong and Thailand.
After ten years of intensive research and interviews with elderly survivors, academics, lawyers and activists in different countries, Sylvia is considered a global expert on the victims of Japanese military sex slavery, known as 'comfort women'. She's been interviewed or featured by the BBC, CNN, CGTN, South China Morning Post, and The Globe and Mail, and covered widely in the media across China and the rest of Asia.
Sylvia is listed as a SheSource expert in the database of the Women's Media Center, which was founded by Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem, and serves as a resource for journalists.
Sylvia believes her core calling is to use her business and communication skills to mobilise people and resources to help those suffering in the most marginalised places. Since 2005, Sylvia has managed and directed millions of dollars to major humanitarian portfolios, impacting the lives of more than a million people. This work has given her access to many influential networks in different countries.
Sylvia led a Hong Kong-based movement of 'passionate compassion' against human trafficking that involved more than 120 churches, NGOs and organisations, and later expanded to other countries, including Malaysia, China, Canada, South Africa and the US. Through more than 50 slavery awareness events over 18 months, her team has reached more than 25,000 people in universities, schools and major corporations like Goldman Sachs.
Sylvia is married to Matthew Friedman, a top-ranked inspirational keynote speaker and a leading global expert on slavery who is currently the CEO of The Mekong Club and was formerly a United Nations director and US diplomat. In the summer of 2016, they delivered 113 presentations in 27 US cities. She and Matthew are based in Hong Kong.

Praise for A Long Road to Justice

‘Sylvia Yu Friedman’s journey is one that most of us cannot imagine. Wrapped in grace and drawn by love, she follows her passion for Asia’s Comfort Women into a shadowy landscape of immense suffering. Reading her book adds to her transformative work of truth and healing.’

Joy Kogawa, author of Obasan and Gently to Nagasaki

"I'm amazed by Sylvia Yu Friedman's book, A Long Road to Justice. It is a must-have and a must-read."

Innocentia G. Apovo Monteiro, Head of Interpol, NCB Cotonou Senior Law Enforcement Organized crime International cooperation; and a former Coordinator of the Trafficking in Human Beings Unit within INTERPOL

'Friedman's moving, meticulously documented book shows that the road to justice for sex trafficking survivors; North Korean, Chinese, Southeast Asian or otherwise is indeed long and full of obstacles. That's no reason to abandon hope, however; the road will remain long if we avoid walking it.'

Rob York is director for regional affairs at the Pacific Forum in Honolulu, Hawaii