Storefront studios and very little virtual sex: far from the sordid accusations of the Tate affair, the flourishing Romanian sex industry videochat erotic defends the work of cam girls.
The arrest at the end of December in Bucharest for pimping of the American-British brothers, accused of forcing girls into sexual activities online, has suddenly thrust this low-key industry into the spotlight.
In the middle, no one knew the two thirty-somethings.
“They have never participated in events in the sector”, reacts Maria Boroghina, a successful ex-model who has become the manager of Beststudios, one of the largest companies in Romania with 160 registered members.
“It was only after their arrest that we learned that they had a studio,” she told Agence France-Presse in the company’s premises, in the center of Bucharest.
Computer scientists are busy behind a long row of computers. Further on, the make-up space is teeming with dressed young women, while photographers are preparing for a session to update their profiles.
8000 euros per month
All around, dozens of intimately decorated rooms equipped with video equipment, with large beds covered with silk sheets and cushions.
Eight hours a day cam girls talk privately with clients, who pay between two and ten dollars per minute.
In the end, their income can reach 8,000 euros net per month, or even much more, while the average salary peaks at 800 euros in this Eastern European country.
Sharing a meal by screen, sleeping “together”, serving as confidantes: those who are recruited undergo training to “earn money by keeping their clothes on as long as possible”, continues the forties. “Sexually explicit content” represents only 5% of the work.
For security reasons, the interlocutors are only located abroad and geographical areas can be blocked at the request of employees, whom AFP could not question.
From a niche activity in the 2000s, the videochat Romanian has imposed itself on the ruins of the porn industry, killed by the free Internet, as a world reference – alongside Colombia and Russia.
“It weighs for 40% of the market in the world”, estimates Anastasia, 33, who works in the direction of another studio, Models4Models. She preferred to keep her surname silent.
In a country famous for the speed of the Internet connection, there are more than 500 studios and thousands of jobs, according to professionals in the sector. However, no official data is available.
“No bad publicity”
Some are taking advantage of the explosion in demand – especially with the confinements linked to the COVID-19 pandemic – to trap young women, as controversial influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan are accused of . Both men deny the allegations.
In an August 2022 video available on YouTube, the former kickboxer explains having amassed millions by embarking on the ” business webcam “, defining himself as” a pimp in a positive sense “.
Beyond Romania, more and more victims of human trafficking “are recruited around the world to work behind a screen”, notes Fabrizio Sarrica, expert of the United Nations Office on Drugs and crime (UNODC).
“It’s very lucrative” for criminals “who thus have access to a large number of customers” and can “rebroadcast the images ad infinitum”.
In the Romanian studios, it is assured that the Tate affair is an isolated case.
“Everyone is under contract, the girls have schedules to respect and are paid in royalties”, explains Maria Boroghina.
Little by little, mentalities are changing, welcomes Ruxandra Tataru, organizer of the Bucharest Summit, an annual exhibition dedicated to videochat which brings together more than 3000 participants.
The popularity of the social network TikTok, where cam girls will make themselves known by explaining their profession, “has notably contributed to transforming the way we look at an activity that is too often stigmatized”, she observes.
While some fear the negative fallout from the recent scandal, Maria Boroghina sees it as an opportunity to push the political class to better regulate the practices of a profession in its own right but still devoid of tax status.
“There is no bad publicity. This is an opportunity to do some pedagogy! she smiles.