Abysmal working conditions, exploitation of webcam models exposed

A new report by Human Rights Watch documents the continued exploitation of webcam models abroad, many of whom operate on popular sites like Chaturbate and are streamed by millions around the world — but aren't protected by either the platforms' Terms of Service or the larger labor movement.

An extensive documentation of webcam studio conditions in Colombia, the international human rights group's report outlines an increasingly abusive environment within webcamming studios hosted in cities like Bogotá, Cali, Medellín, and Palmira. The organization spoke to 55 studio-based webcammers, Colombian authorities, U.S. State Department officials, and anti-trafficking experts.

Many of the models interviewed by Human Rights Watch and Colombian sex worker-led organizations La Liga de Salud Trans and Corporación Calle 7 Colombia recounted being coerced into "abysmal" sanitary and physical working conditions under constant surveillance, for periods of up to 24 hours. Even more recounted having never read or signed the Terms of Service of the platforms their content appeared on, with their accounts being made and overseen by the studios — guidelines that could offer them insight into further wage theft and sexual exploitation. For example, few of the webcam platforms offer protections for models to take breaks during live cam shifts. Studios reportedly pressured models into staying online for extended periods of time, using the threat of docked pay and decreased traffic.

Colombia has decriminalized sex work — a globally supported policy position among sex worker, labor, and human rights activists — and all of the models interviewed had consented to their work, yet adult content platforms, especially those in the webcam industry, continue to slip through the regulatory cracks and threaten the safety of models. “Sex workers deserve the same labor protections as all workers under international human rights law, but the billion-dollar webcam industry has largely avoided scrutiny for abuses in its supply chains,” writes report author and Human Rights Watch researcher Erin Kilbride. "Sexual exploitation is not inherent to webcam modeling, but our research indicates that the risk of exploitation in Colombian studios is extremely high."

Labor violations among webcam studio operators overseeing adult content models are well documented. While streaming platforms take anywhere from 50 to 65 percent of a model's earnings already, Human Rights Watch explains, studios like those documented in Colombia retain as much as 70 percent of what is paid out by the platform, reducing model earnings to meager numbers. In addition, many studios retain ownership of models' accounts, forcing them to stay with the studio or risk losing their followings and living wages. The organization reports that this is also a way for studios to circumvent verification systems that protect minors from entering the platform.

"Webcamming exists at the intersection of feminized labor, anti-sex work stigma, the informal economy, and the platform-mediated gig-economy. This combination makes it a ready site of multiple forms of labor exploitation," Human Rights Watch explains in the report. "Adult webcam platforms have remained largely immune to rebuke for their direct participation in and enabling of the exploitation of studio-based webcam workers."