Wendy Lozano, webcam model in Bogotá, on April 26. Iván Valencia
The walls of the room are red and black.
They are the colors that for Wendy Lozano, 20, represent sadomasochism.
She herself, in fact, painted them this color during a broadcast.
Lozano left her literature studies a year ago because she had to help her family with household expenses.
A year earlier, at 18, she had already decided that she wanted to try out as a webcam model.
“The first six months were very hard, with everyone I knew believing that she was working as a nanny.
In the first studio where she worked illegally, they tried to sexually abuse me, ”she says.
Half a year ago, Lozano arrived at the Dharma studio.
It was in this place where he was able to create his own character, which has given him regular customers.
Rose Black, black rose in English.
She is the woman she becomes when the camera turns on every day.
Her specialty is sadomaso: she loves to play with leather whips, belts, sex toys and chocolate sauces.
“Rose and I are two different people.
I never take it home.
Rose is outgoing, crazy and aggressive, and I'm the opposite, "explains the
webcammer
.
In a single street in the center of Bogotá, you can count five studios that are dedicated to the business of webcam models.
They camouflage themselves between student buildings and a college at the end of the street.
At the entrance there is no sign of the company name, so the aspiring models approach a little clueless.
In the end, 20-year-old Cindy finds her doorbell and shyly pokes it.
She learned about the study through social networks and was encouraged to do an interview.
After an hour in which the local psychologist, María López, takes her on a tour and explains the working conditions, she accepts.
Colombia is the second country in the world with the most webcam models, after Romania.
“Since the pandemic, business has grown exponentially in the city.
Right now there may be more than 5,000 studios in the country,” says Ernesto López, 48, the owner of the place where Cindy goes to work.
Rose Black, black rose in English, is Wendy's character in the broadcasts.Iván Valencia
This studio, as López calls it, is dedicated to hiring women who do erotic modeling on web pages on camera from their rooms.
The men who watch them pay for what they do in their sex shows with
tokens
, virtual currencies backed by
blockchain
technology .
Broadcasts can be in open rooms with more than 20 people or private, where 12
tokens
are paid per minute.
In this business, you earn for the time the model manages to keep her client connected.
López's is a family business.
After a lifetime working as a tax advisor advising his clients on the most efficient way to set up companies in the country, López thought of setting up his own company.
At first, the idea of owning a webcam studio seemed a bit strange to him, he admits: “There is still a lot of taboo on the subject”.
But after thinking about it a lot with his wife, they decided to get into the business.
Taking advantage of López's knowledge, they wanted to make everything legal, although it was complicated due to the lack of regulation that exists in the country on this matter: “They didn't even let us open a bank account,” he explains.
Now the business is run by the couple and his daughters.
Unlike what happens with pirate or illegal studios, López's is registered with the mayor's office, has its contracts in order, pays the corresponding taxes and, of course, does not accept minors either as clients or as workers.
The idea of the company is to establish itself as a safe space where the models can work in peace without being disturbed by anyone, not even by the owner of the business, who says that he does everything possible not to coincide in the building with them so as not to bother them.
Webcam payouts
are
naturally guaranteed.
“Many of the studios that operate in the city do so from underground because the conditions they offer their professionals are very bad, he explains.
Through an unprecedented ruling in Colombia, the Constitutional Court last year recognized the rights of an employment relationship in the profession of webcam modeling.
The Court pointed out that although the trade is not regulated in Colombia, this does not mean that the companies dedicated to this activity can do what they want with their workers, which in any case are recognized by the Constitution.
Laura Velandia, webcam model in Bogotá. Iván Valencia
The ruling highlights the reality of many women who "in a state of vulnerability, enter the sex industry conditioned by situations of poverty and lack of opportunities," reads the ruling.
In any case, it is a complex issue.
The activity, experts say, is still not regulated in the country because, in theory, a contract and terms and conditions cannot be established in something that involves the intimacy and sexuality of a woman.
In other words, it cannot be regulated because doing so would open the door wide to the regularization of sex work, a profound debate that has been stalled in Colombia for decades.
Therefore, to see their situation fully recognized, women like Velandia and Lozano who make a living every day with their bodies must still wait for theory and practice, laws and daily reality, to find the way to meet.
A room of a 'webcammer' inside
On the second floor each room has its own theme.
Lozano, before starting work, has several rituals every day: “First I prepare the playlist that I want to use during the broadcast, they are usually blues songs because they seem very sensual to me.
Later, I put on a specific song that makes me happy, and then I'm ready to hit the button and go on the air, ”she says.
Lozano had a hard time telling his family what he does and considers his passion.
Her mother's first reaction was to think that she was a prostitute.
However, she tells her, over time she understood what the business consists of.
Today, says Lozano, the mother is even considering joining her daughter and dedicating some time a day to erotic dancing, such are the economic benefits that her daughter's work is bringing to the family.
Laura Velandia is a music student and during her free time she works as a webcam model. Iván Valencia
Most of its clients are foreigners, and 90% speak English.
The best hours for her are from one in the afternoon to seven at night, and the profile of her clients are men over 40 years of age.
“Many times they are just looking for a conversation and I don't even have to take off my clothes,” she explains.
Lozano says that in a bad month he can earn a million pesos (250 dollars).
However, he has had months where he has made ten million ($2,500).
The studio he works for keeps 45% of his profits.
In the room next to Lozano's is Laura Velandia, 24.
She studies music and in her free time, from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., she does a webcam in the studio.
Her character is the opposite of Rose: she plays at being a cute and innocent girl.
Her room is all painted pink and she has it personalized with her photos: “I worked as a makeup salesperson, but I didn't have enough money, then one day I saw an ad for this studio on Instagram and I got excited.
Over time, my family has accepted it because they see that I am fine, ”she explains Velandia while she fixes the lights to start her broadcast.
In López's studio there are nine rooms, although the largest on the street has 20. "I am proud to be able to generate employment for women who have many economic difficulties and who can work in a space where in the end they have no contact with anyone," says the lawyer.
Laura Velandia in the Dharma studio, located in the downtown area of Bogotá.Iván Valencia
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