Somaly Mam could not be reached for comment. Calls to her phone number in Cambodia went unanswered Thursday and her office in Cambodia said it did not know where she was.
“While we are extremely saddened by this news, we remain grateful to Somaly’s work over the past two decades and for helping to build a foundation that has served thousands of women and girls, and has raised critical awareness of the nearly 21 million individuals who are currently enslaved today,” Reiss-Wilchins said in the statement, which was posted on the foundation’s website.
Somaly Mam’s resignation followed a cover story in Newsweek which publicized long-questioned aspects of her story. In Cambodia, questions had been raised for several years, especially by the newspaper The Cambodia Daily.