Former First Lady of Palau, Debbie M. Editor’s Note: This story is taken from good guy valentine presents GOOD10 Ocean’s Issue.

You can download and read the entire digital magazine issue for free here. Labor activist Patima Tungpuchayakul waves to me over video chat from Thailand, but by the end of an exhausting day her ever-bright smile quickly fades. She looks down at her cell phone, clearly concerned that another heinous crime might slip through the cracks without her tireless vigilance. Her translator recounts the details of Patima’s intensely demanding job. Patima co-founded in 2004 with her husband Sompong Srakaew, which helps mistreated children and enslaved workers in Southeast Asia.

Patima provided her teen client with safe refuge and rehabilitation from her father’s sexual abuse, as well as legal advice and counseling. He deserves to be in prison,” Patima says. The world’s oceans are under attack from a litany of man made problems: over-fishing, ocean plastic and climate change. But humanity itself is just as often at risk on the open waters, where international law is often powerless to stop the illegal fishing and human trafficking that feels like something out of the 1800’s.

Patima has devoted her life to saving others. Even if it means dodging the mafia, the police and government officials who have all attempted to kill her—more times than she can even count. After freeing thousands of men forced into lives of slave labor, her diplomatic efforts led to a Nobel Peace Prize nomination in 2017. Some of the enslaved men jumped overboard to escape their harsh realities, while others are captured and locked up in prison or even killed.