Police in Kyrgyzstan say they are powerless to stop the growth of a lucrative local online sex chatroom industry that has got moralizing vigilante groups hot under the collar. Speaking at a recent roundtable in Bishkek, police representative Azamat Dzhanaliyev said there is no criminal legislation under which the female performers can be punished. And targeting the studios responsible for the webcam networks is next to impossible too, he said. The webcam girls phenomenon is nothing new in many parts of Asia, but it seems to be relatively recent to Kyrgyzstan, perhaps emerging as late as the last couple of years.
The appearance of identifiably Kyrgyz girls masturbating online for paying viewers has predictably riled conservatives, some of whom have engaged in shaming campaigns, sources with experience working in the industry told Eurasianet. According to the sources, who requested anonymity, Kyrk Choro — a group that has achieved infamy for its raids on karaoke clubs frequented by Chinese businessmen and Kyrgyz prostitutes — is identifying and posting pictures of the webcam girls on social media websites.
As noted by the article on Kaktus, many of the rooms where the action takes place are not visible from Kyrgyz IP addresses. This is not because the websites are banned by internet service providers, but because the performers themselves request blocks on IP addresses originating in their home country. Using VPN apps makes this block easy enough to get around, however. The amount of money involved appears to make it worth the gamble.
The studios can in theory be shut down under a law prohibiting the mass distribution of pornography. But as Dzhanaliyev noted at the roundtable, the fact that studios are streaming live rather than distributing recordings makes it difficult to gather evidence. When parliament last year banned landlords from letting out flats on an hourly and daily basis, one of the rationales behind the move was combating pimping and prostitution in residential locations. But cynics suggested the real motivation was to protect more established brothels on the police payroll.
Prostitution itself is not technically illegal in Kyrgyzstan, although related activities, like operating a brothel and pimping are. Former chatroom operators who spoke to Eurasianet had all heard of studio bosses and webcam girls being shaken down by police.
