Webcam Girls Confess: The $1 Billion Industry With A Weird, Dark Side
“Webcam girls” is one of the 21st century terms that has appeared with the onset of webcams and the Internet. And while the proliferation of reports may exist bragging about all the monies webcam girls can make by posing in front of their webcams and doing sexual things for men on the other side of the webcam, it’s not always all it’s cracked up to be.
As reported by the Sun, women who get money to perform sexual tasks via webcams might have turned it into an industry worth one billion or more, but those same women are speaking out about their experiences.
Whereas the term “webcam girls” can be used to refer to women over the age of 18 that choose to perform for money on camera, it sadly can also be used to refer to young girls being abused in the sex trade. As seen in the above photo, a researcher points to a computer generated photo of a would-be 10-year-old girl from the Philippines. It was created via a Dutch organization that tries to stop children from being exploited around the globe. The Terre des Hommes organization put out a warning about kids being paid to use webcams to perform sex acts.
However, the warning is also being put out by women who have made money via their webcams — with them warning others that the so-called easy moneymaking opportunity is darker than it seems.
As reported by the Sun, Charlayne Everhart is a personal trainer who became a webcam girl after learning her friend earned thousands via her webcam job. Billed as an easy and fun way to make their own living or pay for college, webcam jobs can also be an entry point into the sex trade. The publication notes the case of Jana Bern, a woman who used to work as a webcam girl to supplement her income from her McDonald’s job.
The 46-year-old Jana said that making money to do sexual things via her webcam left her feeling deflated. As the mother to an 11-year-old, Jana found out about the webcam job from a younger coworker. However, after moving from her webcam to the Skype sessions that featured private sex sessions, the sex act requests got dirtier.
“Most nights I’d lie awake feeling used and dirty and hating myself for going too far. I realised I was a porn star. It looked very safe and glamorous. At first it was easy flirting, but within a month clients started wanting more. They couldn’t touch me and I couldn’t see them so it didn’t feel real at first. I wanted to say no but because the callers had often pre-paid, they told me I was obliged to do what they asked.”
As for Charlayne, her webcam job gave her a scary experience with stalkers.
Charlayne isn’t a webcam girl anymore, but that doesn’t mean she doesn’t fear one of her clients showing up at her doorstep. Another man shouted her name when she was in public — at a train station. When he said that he knew her from the webcam job, she ran away and told him to leave her alone. The same guy came to her house and damaged the paint on her vehicle.
“There is still a real possibility a caller from my past could turn up on my doorstep at any time.”
Although Cosmopolitan warns about a creepy side of becoming a webcam girl, other webcam girls like 19-year-old Rose Alexander warn that putting things online via a webcam — footage that can be recorded — can live forever. The dark part is that webcam girls can never be sure who is watching them, nor that person’s mental state.
The world's first webcam was used to monitor a coffee pot at Cambridge University. https://t.co/DhSNxHxZVW
— Ripley's Believe It or Not! (@Ripleys) April 3, 2016
South Korean court upholds a ban on prostitution, but 3 judges defend women in the sex trade https://t.co/iN319BDLtR pic.twitter.com/BgV4qCQAo9
— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) April 1, 2016
[AP Photo/Peter Dejong]
