Woman making Christmas jumpers for UK turns to sex work to pay bills

Ruby Rafiq at her home in Keraniganj, near Dhaka. After her husband left her, she became the sole provider for her family but with rising inflation found it impossible to survive on an hourly minimum wage of 65 taka – less than half a penny an hour. Photograph: Farzana Hossen/The Guardian

Every night, Ruby Rafiq* lies awake on the cold, hard floor of her small room, worrying how her family will survive the winter. Curled up next to her under a large patchwork blanket donated by a charity is her 13-year-old daughter, Maya.

The mother of two waits for her children to fall asleep before quietly creeping out of the house. Wrapped in a shawl, she heads to the market down by the Buriganga River in Keraniganj, on the outskirts of Dhaka, and waits for men to approach her.