Ukrainian Porn Star Claims Persecution, Seeks Asylum in EU

EUROPEAN UNION—The United States is not the only country that persecutes people for choosing sex work. Adult star Wiska, who fled her native Ukraine for the Czech Republic in 2010 after officials threatened to take her two children away from her, is now seeking to become the first person in her line of work to be granted asylum in the European Union because of the alleged persecution. According to the Mail Online, "The actress, in her early thirties, claims she was forced to flee Ukraine after welfare officers threatened to take her children into care because her job made her unsuitable to be a 'worthy mother.'" Wiska, whose real name is Anastasia Grishay, now has three children, the last of which was born in her adopted country. "I was left alone with a child, worked as a model in various magazines," she said of her experiences in the Ukraine. "When I was asked to star in a porno movie I accepted because I needed the money. I have been trying to explain that I did not do it out of a love for the business but because I had to feed my son." The current problem is that Czech officials have rejected her application for asylum and given her 15 days to leave the country, forcing her to appeal the decision to European courts. According to iafd.com, Wiska started her adult career in 2004, and currently has 78 performer credits to her name. Her last listed movie was a 2011 release, 2 in the Hole, for Digital Sin. The Daily Mail added, "The porn-star is being supported by Femen, a group of Ukrainian feminists who stage provocative demonstrations such as stripping naked outside parliament and cutting down crucifixes." No word on when a decision on her appeal is due.