PORTLAND, Ore. — Under the Burnside Bridge, Anna sits on a mattress. She used to camp across the street, but city crews removed her site Thursday morning. She’s new to street life, having been homeless for just a few months. But it didn’t take her long to learn of the dangers that come with it.
"There's such a hatred out here targeted at women," she said. "Women just get abused and beat up for no reason."
She protects herself the only way she knows how: by hiding.
Anna said she wasn’t surprised when a KGW crew told her of the man Portland police arrested on Tuesday, 49-year-old Konstantin Y. Svidenko. He's accused of repeatedly giving homeless women drugs as a way to lure them into his Northeast Portland apartment before sexually assaulting them.
"It reminded me of a guy that allowed me to come over and shower," she said. "He stripped down naked and sat naked in his home while I showered. I couldn't tell him he couldn't be naked in his own home, but I wanted to shower. I needed to shower."
Anna got out of the man’s apartment safely, but she said she knows that's not always the case for some women, like those who accused Svidenko.
Court documents obtained by KGW show multiple women came forward identifying Svidenko as their abuser. Police confronted him back in June, but he denied ever being with those women. Three months later, police received more reports of Svidenko threatening women. They arrested him on Tuesday. He now faces 17 charges including rape, kidnapping, and strangulation.
"This is not a one-off event. This person is not the only one doing this," said Eboni Brown, who runs Greater Good Northwest, a group supporting homeless people. She said she believes police should have done more to protect these women.
"Even if you're doing an investigation, you can still warn the women that are out here every day, potentially the next victim… a lot of women don't have the fight in them, or they're in a fragile place. They can't fend off these folks," she said.
Anna said that description rings painfully true, and that women on the street have to fight every day just to stay alive.
"Sometimes I wake up and I don’t want to be awake," she said, fighting back tears. "You’re ostracized by the normal community and you’re ostracized by the homeless community when you’re a homeless woman."
KGW asked Portland police why it took several months and multiple victims coming forward before they arrested Svidenko. A PPB spokesperson said in an email that sexual assault cases are complex and require a great deal of meticulous work to gather enough evidence. They added that advocating for victims and holding offenders accountable is the bureau's top priority.
PPB believes there may be more victims in this case, and is asking anyone with information to give them a call.