Appalling abuse of former sex worker, trafficked as a child from Romania to Spain, and her hopes of starting a new life here in city
LATIFA WAS BEATEN SO BADLY SHE SOMETIMES HAD TO ‘DRINK SOUP THROUGH A STRAW’ – AND THE VIOLENCE DIDN’T STOP WHEN SHE BECAME PREGNANT
A WOMAN has told of her former life as a sex worker in Nottingham after being trafficked to Spain from Romania when she was just 14.
Having arrived in Nottingham in 2016, the woman – who wishes to go by the name of Latifa – worked as a prostitute from her home in the city for a few months because she “was already used to it”.
Latifa, who fell into alcoholism and drug addiction from a young age, now wants to leave the past behind her and start a new chapter of her life.
She told the Post: “I do have regrets about the moment when I first started to do this – that should have been a wake-up call for me.
“I should have called the police – I should have done something.”
But, with help from POW Nottingham – a voluntary organisation supporting the rights of sex workers and those at risk of being exploited – she is now hopeful that her life might change for the better.
“Here in the UK I have my mum who is very supportive of me and is the only family member who knows about my past”, she said.
“She helps me mentally and I just feel better here.
“I do not think I would be alive right now if I chose to stay in Romania or Spain for much longer.”
It all began when she and her boyfriend, 22 at the time, went on a twoweek holiday to Spain.
Little did she know that once she arrived there she would be forced to become a sex worker on the streets.
She said: “I had up to 15 clients a day.
“There were days when I would make 1,000 euros a day.
“I made a lot of money, because I was only a child at the time and looked different to other girls.
“But I did not get any of it – all of that was going to my boyfriend.”
Latifa was beaten up by the trafficker many times. Sometimes the physical abuse was so serious that she would have to “drink soup through a straw”.
“He would feel bad afterwards because I could not produce as
In many cases, immigrant sex workers are mums who are trying to provide for their families and poverty in countries like Romania leads them into doing this
much money as before,” she said.
After countless episodes of abuse, Latifa quit her boyfriend’s “business” to work on her own. “One day I took the risk and quit. “I left him, but continued to work in the industry.”
In the few months she worked independently, she managed to make enough money to survive in a foreign country.
After she finally managed to escape from her trafficker’s grasp, she thought she had found peace in another man’s arms and became pregnant by him at the age of 17.
“I met this Spanish guy, and we moved in together straight away,” she said.
And the horrific episodes of abuse she went through in the past continued in the new relationship.
“He was taking a lot of cocaine – and it was the same story all over again. He was beating me when I was quite late in my pregnancy – my belly was huge.”
She left him after she found out that he was cheating on her with another woman.
“That is what hurt me the most, so I decided to come to the UK and settled down while.”
She then got in touch with Diana Blaj, migrant outreach coordinator at POW Nottingham, who specialises in working with immigrant sex workers across the country.
“They helped me a lot. I also attended some of their English classes too.”
The woman’s unbelievable past left her with a child that she has not seen in ten years and scars that may not heal in her lifetime.
“I fought over the custody of my child, but because I was only 18 at the time and did not have a job or a house on my name – I lost,” she said.
“My son is in good hands, he lives with his father’s parents and is being given the life that I could have never afforded to offer to him.
“I felt uncomfortable to reach out to him after a while, especially because his grandparents refuse to tell him about me.
“Maybe he will reach out to me himself when he grows up.”
Today, Latifa lives in Nottingham and is looking for a “real job”, desperately trying to erase who she used to be.
“I am still in pain because it is not easy to always think about what you have done.
“Especially since my biggest wish right now is to start a family.
“I am always terrified that they might find out about my past.
“My motherhood is basically nonexistent, and I am scared to fall in love because I do not want my partner to know about my past.
“I would only let him have who I am now and who I will eventually become.
“Sooner or later they will always blame me for it because it is natural to do so.
“And many are still judging me without knowing the whole story,” she said.
Chief Inspector Natasha Todd, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “The Prostitution Task Force, who work from Radford Road Police Station, work closely with partners and the local community to address issues including the exploitation and soliciting of sex workers.
“The majority of our work is focused on education and engagement in order to address the root causes of these issues as well as safeguarding the sex workers and supporting them with the help of other agencies.
“Whether using proactive patrols or targeted engagement, we remain committed to ensuring that residents feel safe while taking proactive action against kerb-crawlers.
“Our main priority is to make Nottingham a safe place to live and work and we will always respond to community concerns.
“That is why it is really important that anyone who has any concerns around the exploitation of sex workers and kerb-crawlers reports them to Nottinghamshire Police as soon as possible on 101.”
Ms Blaj added: “I know a lot of people are judging these women, without understanding what they are going through.
“POW is an organisation based on a peer-support system, and we believe in the decriminalisation of sex workers.
“People do not understand that, in many cases, immigrant sex-workers are mums who are trying to provide for their families and poverty in countries like Romania leads them into doing this.”