WOMEN WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Mony Pen: "Helping Women Help Themselves"

Mony Pen has dedicated her life to helping women living with AIDS in Cambodia, through education and outreach programmes.

She is HIV-positive and was infected by her husband two years after she got married. Since she got diagnosed, Mony has made it her personal mission in life to help empower women living with HIV/AIDS.

"When I see women around me suffering, it hurts me a lot, "says Mony.

Her drive is to help women, who face discrimination on the ground, a platform to discuss their problems so they can lead better lives.

Mony has overcome personal hurdles to take her cause to a national level and make it easier for women in Cambodia to come forward and ask for help, without feeling stigmatised.

Her family was reluctant for her to disclose her status. but Mony was determined to reach out to the community.

"I want to spend my life to help women and I want men to understand that women can everything that they can do."