‘I’m sacrificing myself’: agony of Kabul’s secret sex workers

Decades of war and grinding poverty have forced more Afghans into risky double lives to survive

When Zainab met her first client almost two years ago, she was drunk, drugged-up, and had passed out by the time he started raping her. She had never touched alcohol before, but was told she'd be better off unconscious. Terrified, she reluctantly agreed.

The man was gone when the then 18-year-old woke up; her body in pain, her thoughts filled with regret.