Two women in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, have been talking to the BBC about how they got drawn into the underground world of sex work in a city living under the threat of violence following years of civil war. We have changed their names to protect their identities.

Mogadishu’s vibrant and bustling Lido Beach offers a glimpse of what the city could become, as it tries to leave the conflict behind.

The seaside resorts, upmarket restaurants, hotels and fresh food are huge attractions.

But lingering nearby is an alternative scene – of partying, drugs and sex-fuelled violence.

The women caught up in this hidden side of the city are young, destitute and often vulnerable in this mainly Muslim nation.

Fardousa, 22, who has been a sex worker for three years, sits in a dark room shaded by red curtains in a bullet-ridden apartment building in Mogadishu’s Wardhigley district. Above the screeching noise of the stove, the slim young woman with a soft voice describes what happened to her.

Rare occurrence

Fardousa explains that she left home at 19, a rare occurrence in Somali society where young women generally do not leave the family before they are married. However, abuse at home or irreconcilable differences with other family members can push some away and this appears to be a growing phenomenon.

“At first I didn’t see it as running away but I couldn’t bear to live with my stepmother any more,” Fardousa says. “She became my father’s second wife after my mother passed away when I was young. She was very abusive over the years and despite this, my father would always take her side.”

After leaving home, Fardousa drifted from place to place making new friends, who she thought would look out for her interests, along the way: “I thought they cared about me. Looking back now, I know they weren’t real friends.”

She eventually became addicted to opioids such as morphine, tramadol and pethidine, and joined the underground party scene at Lido Beach, where she was introduced to sex work.

Fardousa soon found herself enmeshed in Mogadishu’s murky underworld where she went from hotels to strangers’ homes to secluded locations. But now she knows enough potential clients that she can rely on people contacting her by phone.

“I wait for my phone to ring and then go out with the men to have sex. Other times, my female friends call me when they have men ready.”

She deals with a variety of clients from all walks of life. “These men at first were male friends of my female friends, then it changed to having sex with different men that I didn’t know. I was vulnerable and needed the money for my addiction, just like many other young women in this city,” says Fardousa.

Because of its nature, there is no official data on the extent of sex work but the testimony from Fardousa and others offers a glimpse into the dangerous environment that many of these young women find themselves in.

Hodan has been a sex worker for two and a half years. Like Fardousa, the 23-year-old ran away from home and found herself immersed in Mogadishu’s underground lifestyle consisting of fellow young runaways who have no financial support. She speaks above the sound of children playing football outside in a steady and calm voice.

“I spend most nights in hotels. The same goes for many of the young women. You meet all kinds of men there but things can take a turn for the worse when you actually go off with some of the men,” Hodan says.

As sex work is illegal in Somalia, many of these young women find themselves in precarious situations with no recourse to the authorities. The BBC requested comment from officials in the police and the ministry of women and human rights development about this and other issues raised in the article, but did not get a response.