Not so rosy for PART 2 Rose
This week, we shared Mary’s story and how she ended up on the streets. Today we bring light to Rose’s tale
IN her mid-30s, Rose (not her real name) did not complete high school and did not have much growing up. She met her partner (her husband) at a young age and immediately fell in love with him. Shortly after, she gave in to his charms and settled down.
However, her fairy-tale ending was short-lived because her husband began abusing her. Rose describes her husband as an abusive man who could not control his temper and that she began to live, as she says, “like a dog”.
“If he was angry, he would take it out on me,” she said.
“I was scared to do anything that would aggravate him.”
She followed every order of her husband and was very careful about how she spoke and carried herself. Although he abused her constantly, Rose, like many other victims, held on to the hope that he would change.
She blamed herself for how he was.
“I shouldn’t have said that” or “Maybe it’s how I acted”, those were the things she would tell herself. Rose was at his mercy. She believed she couldn’t go far with her education level and lack of money.
Her silent tears in the face of her abuser were something she drew power from, until one fateful day that would change the course of both her and her husband’s lives forever.
The clouds were grey as torrential rain poured heavily, drowning out Rose’s cries for help. Her voice was muffled by the rain as he pounded on her repeatedly. She was too weak to stop the beating.
Then her motherly instincts kicked in as she knew she had to protect her unborn baby. When he wasn’t looking, Rose stood up and sprinted out of the house, running for her and her baby’s life. Her abuser chased her until she slipped and fell over a flight of steps at their front door.
Fear stifled her screams while she continued falling, her limbs tumbling over one another and her lower body hitting the stairs.
Rose, who was four months pregnant, lay helplessly in the cold rain as tears rolled down her face. She knew something was wrong.
“I cried because I was scared that maybe I had lost my child,” she said.
Upon visiting the doctor, she learned that she had a miscarriage. She had several miscarriages in the past because of his abusive ways.
Hurt and sad, she was caught in a dangerous spiral of depression. Her husband was sent to prison for his actions and life got harder for Rose. She was left without anyone to help her; her misery pushed her to pursue prostitution.
“I don’t have much to offer, this is the only way I know I can earn money,” Rose says.
Her first night as a prostitute was difficult as she battled with losing her dignity and fending for herself. She cried as she tried to prepare herself mentally for what was to come.
Wearing a deep purple lipstick paired with torn-up jeans and a crop top, Rose tried her best to fit in. She accustomed herself to the business, the mannerisms, the words, and the hustling.
Like everyone, Rose had her limits too. When she felt like she’d reached it, she would intoxicate herself to the point she was drunk enough to continue with what was expected of her.
People would assume this is what she enjoyed doing, but as she summed it up, “No woman would want to sleep with more than 10 men a day just for pleasure”.
Rose despises her life and does not want to continue living the way she is.
“If there was a job available for people like me, I would gladly take it.
“Please, all I ask, is for the Government to at least come see us, come see what life is like here. At least build a shelter for those of us who don’t have a home to go back to.”
Rose lives in a settlement in Nasinu and travels every morning until late to conduct her business. She is one of the newest on the streets and only began recently since her husband’s imprisonment last year.
There are many like Rose who experience abuse and loss, her story helps us understand the motivation behind her actions.
While it is easy for the public to pass judgment, there is a tendency to forget that prostitutes are victims too. They are victims of poverty, abuse, and, above all, neglect at home.
As a young boy summed it up to me, “They judge us, but they don’t know that love is on the streets”.
No woman would want to sleep with more than 10 men a day just for pleasure Rose