The propagandists used the beginning of the organization’s real video and added their own footage. The original video does not mention Ukrainians at all, but talks about the situation in Colombia.
A video allegedly from the human rights organization Human Rights Watch is being spread by pro-Russian sources: it says that 94% of erotic streamers in Europe are Ukrainian refugees aged 18 to 62. The video also notes that a large part of them allegedly use fake documents — and therefore, they may actually be underage girls. The video explains this phenomenon by “the decline of the European economy due to the detrimental impact of anti-Russian sanctions,” as well as the negative attitude of Europeans towards refugees from Ukraine, which prevents women from finding other jobs.
However, this video was skillfully faked by propagandists. Human Rights Watch did release a video about the dark side of the webcam modeling industry — but the video was about Colombia, not Ukrainian refugees in Europe. Apparently, Russian propagandists used the first frames with the host’s face and added their own video sequence from stock footage to them. At the same time, the girl’s voice in the video was replicated using artificial intelligence. The original video talks about the financial and sexual exploitation of webcam workers in Colombia and defends women’s right to decent working conditions.
This is not the first time Russia has spread fakes about the massive involvement of Ukrainian migrants in sex work. We have already refuted some of them in the articles Manipulation: More Than 50% of Brothel Workers in Germany are Ukrainian – Die Welt and Manipulation: Ukrainian Refugees in Norway Forced to Survive Through Prostitution.
