Arrest of influencer Andrew Tate exposes Romanian camgirl boom

The arrest of the scandalousinfluencersAndrew Tate for alleged rape and human trafficking highlighted a thriving Romanian industry erotic video chat and the work of “camgirls”.

In just a decade, it has gone from being a niche activity to Romania in one of the world’s largest virtual sex providers with 500 studios across the country.

But no one in the Romanian environment knew Andrew Tateand are now afraid of an investigation into allegations that “influencers”, an avowed misogynist, along with his brother Tristan, forced women into prostitution and virtual sex.

Romanian “sex cam” operators told the AFP news agency they didn’t know the British-American kickboxer had a studio until the “scandal” broke.

“The Tate brothers are not known in the industry and have never participated in industry events,” responded Maria Borogina, a successful former model who became the head of Best Studios, one of Romania’s largest companies.

“This job gives you the opportunity to earn a lot” from his youth, he said, as young women in bathrobes drank coffee after hours in front of the cameras.

thousand per month

Borogina said 160 women took part in her study. “The monthly post-tax salary for our camgirls is $8,000,” which is ten times the median salary in Romania.

“Everything is transparent and legal,” he added. “The girls are under contract and get 50% to 90% of the money they make for the studio,” he said.

Clients pay between $2 and $10 per minute for “private chatting with girls” who stream for up to eight hours or more per day.

Romanian success in the food industry “sex cam” There are several reasons for this, according to Borogina.

” romanian women They are beautiful and smart, they speak good English and we have good internet speeds,” she told AFP.

While this industry is legal, it is not regulated by Romanian law and is not recognized in tax matters, forcing women to work as “online service providers” under a copyright treaty.

In turn, Fabrizio Sarrica of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said that “all over the world we are seeing a growing number of victims (of human trafficking) who are hired to work in front of the cameras.”

“This is very beneficial” for criminals because a large number of “clients around the world” have access, and “images can be used multiple times and sold on the dark web,” he added.

“Unfair”

But industry advocates like Borogina and Ruxandra Tataru, organizer of the Bucharest Summit, which “sex cam”they say they will uphold the rules.

Sexually explicit content “is only 5% of the work,” insists Borogina, who says her studio’s services are not available to Romanians to protect women’s privacy.

Tataru claimed that platforms such as TikTok and OnlyFans helped remove the “stigma surrounding the activity”.

Romanian women represent 40% of the global video chat industry,” said Anastasia, a 33-year-old former web model who now represents “models” at another Bucharest studio, Models4Models.

Alexandra, the studio’s head of marketing, who did not give her last name, said it was “unfair that because of such a scandal, people think that Andrew Tate represents the industry video conference. This is unfair”.

Tate The 36-year-old denies any illegality and says there is no evidence against him.

But Borogina believes the scandal could be positive if it forces politicians to better regulate the industry.

“There is no such thing as bad publicity, and I think this industry-focused case is an opportunity to educate people,” he said.