Findings of parliamentary inquiry into webcamming published
The UK Parliament’s All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Commercial Sexual Exploitation has published the findings of its inquiry into the webcamming trade.
The APPG leads research and advocacy in Parliament to combat commercial sexual exploitation, with UK Feminista providing the Secretariat.
‘Only Exploitation’ details the findings of the cross-party group’s investigation into the burgeoning global trade of webcamming – in which commercial online platforms enable viewers to pay for a person to strip and/or perform sexual acts live via webcam. Three of the top ten most popular pornography websites in the UK are solely or predominantly webcamming platforms.
Read the report | Only Exploitation: An inquiry into the webcamming trade by the APPG on Commercial Sexual Exploitation.
Key findings
The APPG identified five main harms perpetrated against women and children via webcamming platforms: sexual coercion, intimate image abuse, security and privacy risks, offline sexual exploitation and child sexual exploitation.
The inquiry also identified harms to women and girls not directly involved in the trade: namely, that webcamming platforms fuel attitudes underpinning violence against women and girls, and normalise and incentivise sexual exploitation.
Crucially, the cross-party group found that the live, interactive nature of webcamming carries unique risks and harms to women who perform via these platforms. The APPG concluded that the commercial live-streaming of pornographic acts, including prostitution, cannot be made ‘safe’.
Tracy Gilbert MP, Chair of APPG on Commercial Sexual Exploitation, said:
“The webcamming trade is a magnet for exploiters. These e-pimps style themselves as legitimate ‘managers’ and agencies, yet they exert sexual coercion and control over the women they recruit and profit from.
“Webcamming platforms are currently treated in policy and regulation like ‘regular’ pornography websites, but they are different. The activity is performed live; by definition, it cannot be pre-screened to prevent against the creation and distribution of illegal content and serious harms to women and children. Compounding this threat, webcamming sites function largely beyond the reach of the law, insulated by paywalls that block the view of law enforcement and regulators.
“Webcamming platforms are a form of commercial sexual exploitation. The level of risk and severity of harms attached to their activities is unacceptable. We are urging the Government to confront online sex trafficking and sexual exploitation by outlawing e-pimping and preventing commercial online platforms from live-streaming pornography and prostitution. Commercial sexual exploitation is a pervasive form of violence against women. It both feeds on and fuels the sexual objectification of women. No woman or girl is unaffected by today’s normalised webcamming trade. It is time for Government to act.”
Recommendations
Based on its findings, the APPG on Commercial Sexual Exploitation has made seven recommendations to Government, calling for new legislation against online sex trafficking, stronger enforcement against exploiters and greater support for victims.
- Make it a criminal offence for online platforms to enable or profit from commercial live streaming of pornography and prostitution.
- Outlaw ‘e-pimping’. This would make it a criminal offence for individuals to facilitate or profit from the live streaming of pornographic performances and/or prostitution of another person.
- Recognise ‘e-pimping’ as human trafficking under anti-trafficking legislation.
- Enable withdrawal of consent to the continued distribution of pre-recorded pornography.
- Law enforcement and organisations with designated regulatory powers and functions must be able to access all content hosted and streamed by pornography platforms for investigative and enforcement purposes.
- Enforcement against the distribution of illegal pornographic content, including via webcamming platforms, must be strengthened via improved monitoring, training and leadership.
- Support and exiting services should be provided to individuals exploited in the webcamming trade.
Nina Humphries, Director of UK Feminista, which provides the Secretariat for the APPG on Commercial Sexual Exploitation, said:
“Webcamming sites enable pornography viewers to become pornography directors. The viewer can pay to control the action by requesting specific sex acts and personalised interactions. It is a highly gendered and exploitative trade. Most of the ‘buyers’ are men, and most of the people being paid to strip and perform sex acts are women.
“This is a landmark report by the APPG on Commercial Sexual Exploitation. It is the first parliamentary investigation into the webcamming trade and lays out vital steps that the Government should take to combat online sex trafficking and sexual exploitation. We pay tribute to the extraordinary courage of survivors who have spoken out – and urge Ministers to act.”
Eleanor Lyons, the UK’s Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, said:
“This report is a powerful reminder that behind every webcam account is a human being, not a commodity. Behind the profiles and the payments are people who have experienced coercion, exploitation and abuse, while others have profited from their suffering.
“Much of what is described in this report reflects what I have heard time and again through my own work on the role Adult Services Websites play in enabling exploitation. Behind different platforms and different technologies, the same patterns emerge with people being exploited for profit, abuse hidden behind a screen, and profound harm inflicted on victims.
“As technology continues to evolve, so do the opportunities for exploiters. Without action, these harms risk becoming harder to detect, harder to prevent, and easier for perpetrators to profit from. We must be clear that no business model, platform or technology can justify the exploitation of people for profit.”
Read the report | Only Exploitation: An inquiry into the webcamming trade by the APPG on Commercial Sexual Exploitation.