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Sylvia Yu Friedman on Muck Rack

Sylvia Yu Friedman

  • Executive Producer and Freelance Writer, Freelance
As seen in: CNN International, Daily Mail, Reuters, Yahoo Singapore, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), South China Morning Post, The Globe and Mail, The Japan Times, New Zealand Herald, DNA India and
Covers:  Human trafficking, human rights, women's rights, North Korea, China, SE Asia, Social issues, HIV/AIDS, Migrants, Migration, Poverty, Human interest stories, Profiles, Biographies, AML
Penguin Random House Author of 'Fearless: A Guide to Freedom and Fulfilling Your Fullest Potential' (2024). Private equity/Pro sports. More active on LinkedIn

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Sylvia Yu Friedman’s Biography

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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 philanthropist…

Sylvia Yu Friedman’s Journalist Portfolio

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Slave husbands of Hong Kong: the men who marry into servitude

Slave husbands of Hong Kong: the men who marry into servitude

Shahid Sandhu's sense of loss and anxiety from his loveless marriage knows no bounds. But his is more than a …

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Wartime sex slaves still emerging in China

Wartime sex slaves still emerging in China

In the 12 months leading up to Wednesday's 80th anniversary of the start of the Nanking massacre, a researche…

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How North Koreans become victims of human trafficking

How North Koreans become victims of human trafficking

The great famine that struck North Korea during the 1990s triggered a mass exodus from the reclusive country.…

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Gaps in records cloak China's North Korean labourers in mystery

Gaps in records cloak China's North Korean labourers in mystery

It is an open secret that a significant number of North Korean labourers work in China and Russia in border c…

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Don't be 'slave husband', Pakistani migrant to Hong Kong warns

Don't be 'slave husband', Pakistani migrant to Hong Kong warns

A Pakistani man claiming he was deprived of food and forced to work as a "slave husband" after he immigrated …

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Trafficking crisis looms for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

Trafficking crisis looms for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

A slender girl with a solemn demeanour, Tahera was only nine when a trafficker came to her parents in the Roh…

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Articles

Fraud Magazine Current Issue

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By Heidi J.T. Exner, Chetan Lunkar, Sylvia Yu Friedman
| acfe.com
After pharmaceutical sales rep Noelle Webb blew the whistle on her employer for fraudulently marketing pain medication, she faced retaliation and job loss. As she contemplated her next career move, Webb embraced her love for dogs to reinvent her life and forge a new path as a service dog trainer. What ACFE’s 2026 Sentinel Award recipient learned about the human-canine bond could be the key to helping fellow whistleblowers withstand the turbulence of workplace retaliation.
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Fraud Magazine Article

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By Sylvia Yu Friedman
| acfe.com
Romeo traffickers lure vulnerable people into sexual exploitation or forced labor by using emotional manipulation, grooming and false promises of love or opportunity. Fraud examiners can strengthen their ability to detect and prevent exploitation by recognizing the tactics used to target and control individuals susceptible to human trafficking. Fifteen-year-old “Kara” (a pseudonym) vividly recalls the moment everything changed: a fierce argument with her parents in North Carolina.
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BOOK REVIEW: Fearless (A Guide to Freedom and Fulfilling your Fullest Potential)

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By Sylvia Yu Friedman
| Asia Sentinel Verified
By: Toh Han Shih “The day I was nearly killed in China was one of the most harrowing experiences I’ve ever had,” Sylvia Yu Friedman writes in her latest book, Fearless: “I was in the middle of a notorious red-light district in Yunnan province. This was a place with no streetlamps. It was so dark outside. All you could see were the glittering pink lights… Keep reading with a 7-day free trial Subscribe to Asia Sentinel to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.
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Interview

What story are you most proud of writing or working on?

The human trafficking story that I'm working on now.

When you're not at a computer, where are you most likely to be?

Hiking with my husband. Antique hunting. Reading. Producing something. I collect vintage American jewelry & pretty gemstones.

Awards

Human Rights Press Award

2013 - English–Language Television Merits – 英文電視新聞報道優異獎

Series: Body of Work on Sex Slavery from Hong Kong, China and Thailand – Sylvia Yu – TVB: The Pearl Report 性奴系列作品 – 柳世貞 – 無線電視：明珠檔案 The Human Rights Press Awards recognizes top rights-related reporting from around Asia. The Awards are organized by The Foreign Correspondents’ Club Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Journalists Association and Amnesty International Hong Kong.

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