London, Jan 22: British singer Paloma Faith, who was born and raised in the Hackney area here, says she was nearly sexually assaulted as a teenager.
She began working as a performer in nightclubs at a young age.
"I have been escaping reality ever since I was born. I grew up in Hackney and it could be a rough place. There were a lot of drugs about, but my mother made my childhood wonderful by using her imagination to shield me...," contactmusic.com quoted Faith as saying.
"I went to nightclubs at 13. It was too young, you see things at that age that you shouldn't. I got scared regularly and I had near misses and saw a lot of negative things."
"I did a gig not long ago in Dalston (in Hackney) and got a cheer for declaring, 'It's good to be home!', then I said, 'Yeah, I was sexually assaulted in a phone box around the corner!' I was being facetious, but it happened."
"I lost my phone in a cab, and as I tried to ring my mum, the door was yanked open and this guy jumped in and tried to have his wicked way with me. I fought him off and ran home," said the 27-year-old.
