Assignment: Colombia's webcam women

任务:哥伦比亚的网络摄像头女士

The Documentary Podcast

2025-05-20

27 分钟
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单集简介 ...

Colombia’s second largest city, Medellín, is booming and one of the biggest industries revolves around the city’s webcam studios which live stream women performing sex acts.  It’s estimated there are hundreds of studios in the city employing thousands of women and turning over millions of pounds as men – primarily in the US and Europe – pay to watch the women. The work is legal with studios running glossy websites to attract models and even hosting their own annual trade show. Crossing Continents meets two women who have contrasting experiences working in the industry. Sofia Bettiza asks if their work is exploitation or a pragmatic way to earn a living in a country where wages for women are often low and opportunities limited.
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单集文稿 ...

  • I'm Sofia Betiza and you're listening to the documentary from the BBC World Service.

  • In this edition of Assignment, I'm in Colombia's second city, Medellin.

  • It's becoming something of a tourist trap,

  • but many of the streets house a thriving hidden industry, webcam modelling.

  • I'm going to explore this industry, warts and all,

  • and what its impact is on the hundreds of thousands of Colombian women working in it.

  • This is Laureles, an upmarket district of Colombia's second largest city, Medellin.

  • In recent years,

  • this place has thrown off the reputation it gained during the years of drug lord Pablo Escobar

  • as being one of the most violent places on earth.

  • This barrio or community is thriving,

  • packed with fancy bars and restaurants catering to locals and also to tourists and digital nomads coming to this place of eternal spring,

  • thanks to its moderate climate as well as its low cost of living and speedy internet connection.

  • But there's a seedier side to the city.

  • Here in Laureles, it's much more discreet than in districts like Poblado.

  • where at night sex workers walk the streets trying to attract tourists.

  • For instance, few people would know that behind the door in front of me is a webcam studio,

  • one of hundreds, maybe even thousands in Medellin.

  • These studios live stream sex acts to men around the world.

  • But not everyone is happy that this business is booming in Colombia.