Pragulic: Lada – A Ballad of Prostitution and Drugs

Drugs triggered her bipolar disorder. She's been admitted to Bohnice psychiatric hospital fifteen times. She sees a psychiatrist regularly, takes medication, lives in social housing and has a legal guardian. She pays for her expenses by working on Karlovo náměstí. She'd love to play the slot machines, but plays virtually instead — and there she's a millionaire. Even more, she'd love to shoot up, but she knows she can't. And by now she can sense when a manic episode is coming on.

She always wanted money and clothes from Tuzex. That's why she started dating an Arab man at 15. Just before turning eighteen, she gave birth to a son. When he was three months old, she left him with her mother and ran away to Prague. There she worked as a waitress and soon discovered the money in prostitution. Shortly after, she also realized she was a lesbian, and sex work became her trade. After the Velvet Revolution she left to work as a prostitute in Germany, where she got a taste of drugs. Meth. The manic episodes began. Since then, parts of her life have been a blur and she can't remember when things happened. But the stories…

Meeting point: the fountain at Uhelný trh.

Admission – 450 CZK

Accessibility – suitable for teens, dog-friendly

Vibe check – intimate event (up to around 30 people), outdoor setting

Trigger warning – themes of drugs and prostitution

Organized by – Pragulic Pragulic is a social enterprise that has been changing perceptions of homelessness since 2012. It runs unconventional tours of Prague led by people with lived experience of life on the streets. Through their authentic stories, visitors get to see the city from a different perspective, understand the reality of life without a home, and look beyond the stereotypes so often tied to this topic.