Legal help for cam girl harassment
If you advertise a sexual service online, it doesn't mean that you should accept any type of harassment. Cam girl harassment is prevalent since the increase in the popularity of web cam modelling and cam watching. As a cam worker, you might be wondering what about your right to privacy and what can be done about cam girl harassment.
Can webcam sex videos be removed online
Legal advice for online sex workers
What is camming
Camming is a huge part of the sex industry and it is where clients can pay to watch a livestream sex performance or have personal video chats on the internet with the cam performer.
Cam girls work across a great number of platforms, having huge social media presence; some with millions of followers. Many cam workers use a fake persona, stage name and even wear full face masks during performances.
What is cam girl harassment
Cam girl harassment is becoming one of the largest issues for many webcam sex workers. Many have said that the harassment is the price they pay for being online but everyone, no matter their line of work, has a right to privacy.
Privacy is always going to be a concern for cam girls. Despite using a fake persona, name and mask, one of the major concerns is that cam workers have to give their real name and proof of identity in order to register on camsites. This means that cam girls are more vulnerable to harassment, both offline and online, as well as blackmail because of exposure and lack of privacy.
Interacting with strangers online is a huge part of a cam performer's job, so they are also exposed to online abusers that post hate speech online and trolling. Many of our clients have learnt to block or ignore online trolls but it's not so easy to ignore the online abuse when they turn into threats and blackmail.
Cam girl harassment example
An example of a cam girl harassment case is about our client who took very few clothes off during her personal video chats. Her clients could see her (but she couldn't see them) but she felt very safe using a site that allowed her to configure chat privacy settings so that she felt in control. Until, one of her clients came up to her in the street and told her how much she meant to him.
He started to bombard her online and she asked him to stop and he wouldn't, getting more obsessive about his feelings for her. She didn't feel threatened initially, but it was just continuous and caused her anxiety. Knowing that he was living close by had a huge effect on her mental health and she became agoraphobic. Fortunately on hearing from us, after we located him, the harassment stopped. It is important to note that harassment isn't just threats and dreadful posts and a constant barrage of abuse, it just has to be something that occurs more than once, is unwanted and is making you feel alarmed.
How cam girls are blackmailed
Cam girls are blackmailed online mostly by videos of themselves performing, taken by someone else, without their permission.
If you are a cam worker, ensuring that you are not being filmed could deem to be difficult. Blackmailing cam girls to expose them through recordings is prevalent. Also, the redistribution to pornography sites, without the cam workers knowledge and certainly not her consent.
Just because you advertise a sexual service on the internet, it does not mean that you are not entitled to privacy. It certainly does not mean that you should accept harassment and blackmail as part of the circumstance.
Can webcam sex videos be removed online
Webcam sex videos can be removed online. Even if one video is hard to find in the endless stream of online porn films now, the thought of it popping up at a later date can make you feel full of dread and incredibly low.
Many old videos can pop up as fresh ones later on, because as webpages are constantly updating, then the links and posts are too. The escalation of one single video can appear thousands of times, depending on the sharing and copying and linking. Do not despair at that thought because that is where our internet law firm can help you. We can remove old webcam videos and all links to pornographic sites and other web pages.
Cam girl safety advice
There are possibilities, if you are a secret cam worker, that your secret won't always stay that way, despite the use of full masks. We advise that everyone stays as safe online as they can by putting in extra effort to reduce offering up private information.
Cohen Davis offer this advice to reduce blackmail:
- Protect your ISP and use a VPN on all of your digital devices
- Do not disclose your location at all
- Read through the contract on the webcam site that you are registering to and ensure that they cannot use your image for advertising purposes and pop up 'singles in your area' banners and that they do not disclose your private information
- Use a stage name
- Don't use a real photograph in your profile
- Do not reveal any identifying information
- Turn off location services
- Make sure your webcam does not have a GPS installed and if so, turn it off
- Don't include your real email address
- If you are asked to mail out anything, use a post office in a different county
Legal advice for online sex workers
There is the general thought that doing sex work equals no representation from the police or a lawyer. This isn't true. Cohen Davis represent anyone that works in pornography online and we will work with the police on your behalf also. We have a lot of experience in cam worker harassment.
Call our experienced internet lawyers with any cam girl harassment or other internet related criminal offence or civil wrongdoing against you. We will advise you of the legal merit of taking it further, as well as removing images and sex videos. Just because you are in cam work, it doesn't mean that blackmail online or any type of harassment is a consequence that you have to put up with. Our internet law firm supports everyone with any type of harassment involving pornography: 0800-612-7211.
