Ukraine's cam girls urge donations, relief

Ukrainian sex workers are contributing to their country’s defense against Russian aggression by coordinating resources and direct donations for local groups, reported Vice News.

Kara Xaen, a 26-year-old Ukrainian sex worker who returned to be home with her family, urged those looking to get involved to make donations directly to people on the ground in Ukraine. 

“There is a big [on-the-ground] effort here, because our city hasn’t been invaded yet, to help people around us get medicines, supplies, batteries, all these kinds of things, while we can still help,” Xaen told Vice.

She cautioned against international aid organizations like the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), saying that direct donations to Ukrainians like her would be put to use faster. It is unknown if the donations are being redistributed to the actual Ukrainian defense cause, but the effort has drawn significant public attention. 

“Some of my friends from university [in Germany] have said, ‘Hey we’ve donated to this organisation like UNICEF’, or whatever,” Xaen added. “But, it’s like: you’ve donated to an organisation with thousands of people. When will we actually see this money?”

Some have drawn parallels to when adult models offered nude photos in exchange for donations to relief efforts for Australian wildfires.

The Ukrainian told Vice that that sex workers across Eastern Europe have come together on social media to collect and distribute funds – even Russians. Most are grateful for the help, but some would like to see Russians banned from platforms like OnlyFans and MyFreeCams.

A spokesman for OnlyFans, whose majority owner is reportedly of Ukrainian descent, told Vice the platform stands by its Russian creators and understands they aren’t responsible for Russian leader Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Vice reports that other platforms popular among sex workers have donated toward Ukraine’s defense. OnlyFans sent 500 Ethereum, equivalent to about $1.5 million, to a cryptocurrency fundraiser for humanitarian aid and military equipment.

The payment app Paxum is helping evacuate sex workers still in the country with transportation to neighboring Romania, where they would be offered free accommodation. Its CEO, Octav Moise, told Vice it had helped more than 150 people, but “those numbers increase every hour.”

Romania is home to Europe’s largest sexcam industry, owing to poverty, an abundance of women willing to learn English, and access to high-speed internet. It was rumored to have annual profits of over $373 million as of 2017.