Number of webcam models increasing

A Newsbeat investigation’s found a rising number of British isles women are working as cam models on the internet.

Market analysts say the overall webcam market is today worth more than a billion pounds, with online sex reveals a big part of it.

Industry insiders claim there’s been a rise in applications, partly fuelled by the tough economy, with hundreds of British women signing up to UK websites each month, many more internationally.

They appear live on webcams that may be accessed on computers around the globe.

Men generally pay premium rates intended for the privilege.

Twenty-three-year-old Lauren’s been doing work as a webcam model for a couple of months.

The lady works with a few other girls within a basement of a semi-detached house which has been converted into a studio.

It’s been furnished to look like two different rooms. Using one side there’s a bed, one the other side of the coin a sofa.

The ladies wear fancy underwear and headsets to talk to punters within the webcams. Lauren told Newsbeat she can make up to £ 30 per hour with bonus deals.

“You can see right now, it is talking dirty. You already know, if they ask me to consider my top off, I will carry out. ”

Big demand
2 weeks . secretive international industry. Ladies can work from anywhere in the world, fronting naked and talking clearly about sex.

Lauren
Lauren says she can make about £ 30 per hour like a webcam girl
Market analysts say overall the webcam market grew from around £ 730m in 2006 to £ 1 ) 1bn in 2008.

It’s predicted to almost double in worthy of again by 2015, with pornographic webcam sites driving much of that growth.

They say it’s more hidden from analysts than other segments, but is a “lively” part of the market.

The most popular site is huge in size, claiming to have around 27, 000 webcam versions and 17 million people, with around 12, 1000 new sign-ups each day.

Brodie Fry create one of the websites. He told Newsbeat the recession features contributed to more women working since webcam models.

“A lot of women through this sort of economic downturn will transfer to the adult industry.

This puts enormous pressure on women inside the industry to perform more
Object campaign group
“This may be a safe alternative to becoming an escort or an adult model. There’s total anonymity. Naturally , the operators don’t use their very own real names.

One site told Newsbeat in the last year it’s put an extra 42 British women typically a month on its books.

Richard Smallbone recently set his own webcam site. He told Newsbeat up to 150 English women are signing up to UK sites a month, with many extra joining international sites.

He said: “We started off with 12 profiles and there would be one woman working during the day.

“Eighteen months down the line, we now have 80 different profiles, anything at all up to 16 girls working during the day. ”

‘Enormous pressure’
But there are concerns. Campaigners say webcam girls could be pressurised into doing issues they’re not comfortable with.

Mobile phone
Mobile adult services are usually the next growth area
Anna van Heeswijk’s from Object, which campaigns against the sexual exploitation of women, said the industry needs to be better regulated sexo.

“It is the man who have decides which women this individual wants to choose, depending on what she looks like and how she actually is willing to behave sexually.

“This puts gigantic pressure on women in the industry to perform more and more excessive versions of pornography in order to attract men, in order to make money. ”

Lauren has no such worries. The lady said her priority can be her three-year-old daughter and insists she’s not being used.

“A lot of my friends are working in garments shops and stuff, they’ve got no money.

“I could do two shifts in a week and Now i am still earning more money than they are and I get to spend all day, every day, with my girl.

“I more than likely want to be at work all day and still have her in nursery. We wouldn’t be able to see her. ”

It’s not only on the internet where cam models are becoming more popular.

Juniper Research anticipates that revenues from mobile phone adult services will go up from £ 1 . 3 or more bn in 2008 to £ 2 . 9bn by 2013 porn xxx – part of that growth is from webcams on mobiles.