She was 15 years old, homeless and her body was the last thing she had to sell.
This was the reality faced by Rachel Moran who, as a young woman, was prostituted in Dublin and other Irish cities for seven years until she was 22.
She was addicted to cocaine but needed to care for her four-year-old son and made the decision to get out of “the game”.
Now aged 47, she is a journalist and founder of Survivors of Prostitution-Abuse Calling for Enlightenment (Space), which campaigns against commercial sexual exploitation. Yesterday she spoke at a conference hosted by Aberdeen Community Safety Partnership to launch the start of the International 16 Days of Action campaign.
The project runs until December 10 and aims to raise awareness of violence against women.
In Aberdeen there will be events for those affected by domestic abuse and sessions to help agencies provide the right information to those who need it.
Fiona Whitehouse, of Aberdeen Cyrenians Violence Against Women project, said: “16 Days of Action is an international campaign and we wanted to do something in Aberdeen to raise awareness.
“It has been great to have Sheriff Katherine Mackie talking about domestic abuse courts in Glasgow and Rachel Moran speaking about her experiences of prostitution. Along with other women, she is campaigning to show how much harm is caused by prostitution or violence and the need for change.”
Other organisations in the 16 Days campaign are Aberdeen City Council’s community safety and social work services, Choices, Drugs Action, Grampian Women’s Aid, NHS Grampian, Police Scotland, Rape and Abuse Support and Victim Support.
Colin Walker, of Aberdeen Community Safety’s domestic abuse partnership, said the city’s commercial sex exploitation industry was worth about £40million a year.
“Even if women say they choose to come here to sell sex, we find that no woman is actually choosing to take part in prostitution,” he said.
“A lot has been done to target the activity on the streets but it is much harder to find those renting rooms or working in hotels. It is about being aware of what to look out for.”