Life with Crack

In 2017, the crack epidemic in Brazil made headlines. Around the same time, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation conducted a study that revealed that the majority of users were women who often resorted to prostitution to fund their addiction. During this period, I met Paula, a young woman from Recife who fled home to escape sexual abuse from her stepfather. With nowhere to go, she ended up on the streets. To stave off hunger, she started using crack and quickly became addicted. Without money for drugs, she turned to prostitution. She had two children, but the court determined she could only have supervised contact with them once a month. Paula tried rehabilitation programs, but was unable to overcome her addiction. Without proper support, she gave up trying to quit.