She used to sell sex in a massage parlour, but the owner took all of what she earned. She now works by herself on London's streets. Her three-year-old daughter is with her parents in Romania. It’s difficult to be here on your own, “you know, it gets lonely”. She sends money to her family, eleven people depend on her. Last night, around midnight, a customer harassed her in an alley off the main road. It was dark, she could not see his face. She told him twice to pay before doing anything. He lit a cigarette and pretended to look for money. Instead he took out a kitchen knife from his coat, putting it to her throat, saying “Go down on me and make me happy without a condom”. She froze, and felt her body go cold; all she could say was “please, please, why?” - Then, suddenly a hand stretched out from nowhere, passed by her head aiming at the arm holding the knife. The attacker ran away with his knife. She started to run too. As she finally reached a car parked nearby, the man inside asked whether she was alright. “I think that the man saw everything”.
Ⓒ Julius-Cezar MacQuarie & Ger Duijzings. Location & date: Stratford, East London, late July 2013. See also the documentary film Invisible Lives: Romanian Night Workers in London, by Tim Marrinan and Iulius-Cezar Macarie, 2013. Image: Ger Duijzings through DreamStudio.
