Sawt Falasteen - Colombian 'webcam models' denounce abuse in online sex industry

Despite their clients being thousands of kilometers (miles) away -- mainly in the United States and Europe -- many webcam sex workers say they have suffered physical and emotional mistreatment.

Some studio bosses in Colombia, they say, prey on cis and transgender women from poor backgrounds, with low education levels, or single mothers trying to make ends meet.

"They forced us to do 12 hours (of broadcasts) a day. If not, they took a percentage of my money," 25-year-old Paula Osorio told AFP at an upmarket webcam studio in Bogota, recounting her start in the industry at another, lower-end adult platform five years ago.

"I started working there to earn enough to eat, and they took advantage of that because I had nowhere else to go."

Sex work is legal in the South American country, which has a high rate of informal employment -- about 55 percent -- and a low minimum wage of around $320 per month.

Last December, Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented claims of "abusive, unhygienic working conditions and coercion to perform nonconsensual sex acts" in a report focusing on the plight of "webcam models" in Colombia.

Tens of thousands of Colombians are estimated to be employed in the sector, broadcasting adult content to clients around the globe.

In 2021, the industry was worth around $40 million in Colombia, according to the report.

In general, platforms keep between 50 and 65 percent of what viewers pay, according to HRW, but in Colombia many sex workers claimed to get as little as 30 percent of the earnings.

Sometimes models are fined for taking breaks to eat or go to the toilet.

- Wage theft -

Tania Rios, a mother of two small children, told AFP she has had many bad experiences that she preferred not to recount.

"But yes, there are studios that want to control women and cheat them of their wages," said the 27-year-old, who has no formal education beyond elementary school.

"There are many things one will do out of necessity."

In its report based on interviews with sex workers in the cities of Bogota, Cali, Medellin and Palmira, the HRW said it was alerted to models working 18-hour shifts without breaks and coerced into degrading, traumatizing or painful sex acts at some studios.

Investigators contacted four platforms named in the report, three of which said they had measures in place to combat human trafficking and child sex abuse, but denied responsibility for abuses at studios where the content is filmed.

One platform did not reply at all.

Sergio Rueda, a manager at Gold Line Studios, told AFP it was true that many low-budget "garage studios" treated women poorly, but not his.

The studio employs a psychologist, Katherine Arroyave, who told AFP that seven out of ten women who joined Gold Line have had "bad experiences" with other employers in the past.

The Colombian government has been working since 2024 on regulating the sector to protect workers' rights and combat tax evasion by employers.

But the demand for workers -- including men -- has only continued to grow.

- Reading the fine print -

Ex-webcam model Darling Leon, 28, created a service to help others better navigate the system -- teaching them what to look for in a work contract, for example.

She gives classes both in-person and online.

"Most of them got into it thinking only about the money and not the fine print," she told AFP.

"Providing them with this information helps prevent their rights being violated."

HRW said in its report it was not calling for the criminalization of the webcam industry or studios, but for the industry and government to address abuses and root out exploitation.

S.Barghouti--SF-PST