Sylvia Yu Friedman is an award-winning filmmaker & investigative journalist, international speaker, and serial entrepreneur. She is the author of three books, A Long Road to Justice: Stories from the Frontlines in Asia (Penguin Random House, September 2021); Silenced No More: Voices of Comfort Women, the only journalistic account of historical Japanese military sex slavery during WWII, and Heart and Soul: The Life Story of Pastor Augustus Chao.
A former TV anchor, and advisor to philanthropists, Sylvia was among the Top 100 Human Trafficking & Slavery Influence Leaders List in 2017 by Assent Compliance. She won the prestigious 2013 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 interviewing elderly survivors, academics, lawyers and activists in different nations, Sylvia is considered an expert on “comfort women” Japanese Imperial military sex slavery. She’s been interviewed or featured on the BBC, CNN, SCMP, Globe and Mail, CGTN among others and covered widely in the Chinese media. Sylvia is a SheSource expert of the Women’s Media Center, founded by Jane Fonda and Gloria Steinem and is listed in a database of women experts who serve as a resource for journalists.
Since 2005, Sylvia has managed and directed millions of dollars to major humanitarian portfolios impacting at least more than one million people. This work has given her access to many influential networks in different countries.
Sylvia led a Hong Kong-based movement against human trafficking that involved more than 120 churches, NGOs, and organizations and later expanded to other nations like Malaysia, South Africa, and the U.S.
Sylvia is married to Matthew Friedman, a top-ranked keynote speaker and global expert on slavery, CEO of The Mekong Club, and former U.N. and U.S. diplomat. Together in the summer of 2016, they gave 113 talks in 27 U.S. cities. Matthew is a producer of two award-winning films; he advised the movie Sold (2014) executive produced by Emma Thompson. Sylvia is working on a feature film and several business projects. She is now promoting her latest book, A Long Road to Justice: Stories from the Frontlines in Asia published by Penguin Random House and producing a film based on this memoir.
Sub-specialties:
Modern slavery
North Korea and China
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Book: A Long Road to Justice: Stories from the Frontlines in Asia
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From a notorious Chinese red-light district to a girl chained like a dog: how author’s probe into sex slavery in Asia helped her come to terms with her Korean identity
This Week in Asia [March 5, 2022] -
Trafficked North Korean ‘bride’ reveals her desperate flight from China
SCMP [September 9, 2017] -
From seeking refuge to slavery: how North Koreans become victims of human trafficking
SCMP [July 2, 2017] -
‘I WAS FORCED TO SELL MY BODY IN A HONG KONG BAR’: A FILIPINO’S EXPERIENCE OF TRAFFICKING, PROSTITUTION
SCMP [February 19, 2017] -
‘I TRAFFICKED WOMEN AT A FAMOUS HONG KONG NIGHTCLUB’
SCMP [June 11, 2017] -
THE INDONESIAN CHILD MAIDS OF HONG KONG, SINGAPORE: WHY THEY’RE SUFFERING IN SILENCE
SCMP [March 25, 2017] -
Ex-pimp helps trafficked women cook their way to new HK life
Reuters [February 2, 2017] -
SLAVE HUSBANDS OF HONG KONG: THE MEN WHO MARRY INTO SERVITUDE
SCMP [May 21, 2017] -
A Modern Day Slave
The Media Project [December 2017] -
The sex slaves of Japanese soldiers deserve – at least – a real apology
The Globe and Mail [January 12, 2016] -
How James Bond, Tom Cruise and Will Smith helped street child escape North Korea via China
SCMP [December 2, 2017]