"Negzzia" said that modeling is both her dream and her passion.
“When I am working in the job I love, I feel alive again,” she told i24NEWS.
She had been a model for years, starting her career in Iran. At first, she followed Islam’s strict clothing guidelines, but soon she started wearing lighter and sexier clothes. Then, one day she was arrested and sentenced to jail time and 148 lashes for photos taken of her in lingerie.
Negzzia fled to Turkey and then eventually to France. But when she arrived in Paris, she had no money and was forced to live on the streets.
“I was all the time crying and saying what am I doing here,” she said in the TV interview. “I miss my family, I miss this, why?
“It was crazy, I miss so many crazy people that did so many bad things to me.”
Sleeping in the park in the winter, Negzzia recalled her life in Tehran, where she had a home, a car and a job.
She tried to commit suicide three times but each time something happened that stopped her from completing the act.
Then, about a month ago, a light at the end of the tunnel appeared: Negzzia received refugee status and is now allowed to stay in France for 10 years.
According to i24NEWS, she is not looking for handouts. She believes this is her destiny, and her one wish is that she can reach success by herself, without any help.