Near the Garibaldi station in Naples, on the Via Galileo Ferraris, is a church with a cross illuminated in bright neon. Most are in their 40s, and some in their 50s. They are discreet, silent and holding cheap leather clutch bags. One is dressed in a prim shirt and trousers, with thick black-rimmed glasses, looking like a student on the town in search of a cheap eat.
We pass the HQ of Italian energy company Enel. A long brick wall and an entrance gate, where a smart car is parked. Inside is a blonde transexual looking at herself in the rear-view mirror. Short, with curly brown hair, she speaks Romanian with an Italian accent and, at first glance, would pass for a typical Moldavian housewife.
But her business involves almost daily negotiations with the prostitutes and pimps of the Naples underground. We drive to the ex-industrial core of the city - now empty lots, car parks and new office buildings, vacated at night. Here the women sit on plastic chairs at a distance of 50 to metres from one another, occupying a corner, a bend in the road, or a lay-by. Every girl has black heels with a platform toe, augmenting both height and poise. This is the signature accessory of east European prostitutes in Italy and Spain.
A Ukrainian woman from Donetsk waves from over the four-lane road to a Romanian on the other side. The blonde Ukrainian is in a short black dress, which clasp the thighs well above the knee, her face layered in mascara. She is drinking a blue energy drink from a plastic bottle. She has been working the street outside a derelict Italian warehouse for five years.
Carmen is clutching a wad of Primitex condoms. The two women talk about paperwork. How to stay in Italy. On the other side of the road is Nicoleta [not her real name], hitting 25 years of age - from Calarasi, southwest Romania. She has a brown Louis Vuitton-esque bag, push-up bra and is looking to buy a flat in her hometown. Nicoleta wants to send her mother some presents. Right now, Nicoleta has issues in Italy. She is in trouble with the police in Naples, who accuse her of pimping another girl.
