[ Olesya Malibu ]I've always felt like a star.
[ Lola Taylor ]I wanted something erotic.
[ Artem Petrov ]The easy money's enticing.
[ Elena Filitovich ]Any form of life deserves to exist, be it a butterfly, a caterpillar, or a worm
[ Mikhail Safonov ] For escorts, I'm a shining red beacon!
[ Andrey Kovalev ]I hate it! All those silicone… That's not for me!
[ Valentina Znak ]None of them have ever dreamt of a prince on a horse.
[ Lev Shcheglov ]It destroys the psyche, these are unhappy people.
PRICE OF VICE PART ONE
[ VO ]They say statistics can tell you anything. However, numbers
don’t help much when it comes to the sex market. Most countries
ban ‘love for sale’, and Russia is no exception. But there always
have been enough people prepared to operate outside the law.
[ Olesya ]There are many popular Telegram channels that men turn to right now.
[ Olesya ]So, I see these messages and I reply to them.
[ Olesya ]They leave their phone numbers and terms.
[ OLESYA MALIBU SOCIAL MEDIA CELEBRITY, MODEL ]If they're acceptable, I call and arrange a meeting.
[ Olesya ]All the young women there are elite, high-priced, and gorgeous.
[ Olesya ]So, I don't think ending up there is something to be ashamed of,
but something to be proud of
[ VO ]Digitalisation has opened up previously unimaginable possibilities for the vice industry. Having
analysed phone numbers and countless adverts, experts say 1.5 to 4 million young women are
involved in this illegal activity. And that’s in Russia alone! There are dozens or maybe even
hundreds of millions worldwide. They proudly call themselves ‘models’, ‘masseuses’, and ‘escorts’.
[ Lola ]Escort? It's the same thing. It's also, sex-for-money, but pricier. That's it!
[ Lola ]It's better to do it for money than, say, for flowers or teddy bears.
[ Lola ]They just use you, then find another.
[ Mikhail ]For escorts, I'm a shining red beacon!
[ Mikhail ]How do they end up in that? Managers on Instagram message them
[ Mikhail ]They offer them a 'job with good pay'
'We have a client who'd like to have dinner with you
[ MIKHAIL SAFONOV BUSINESSMAN ]And, after the dinner, you'll get this much cash'
[ Mikhail ]That's how it starts, how they pull them in
[ Mikhail ]After she's been paid for the dinner the same manager messages her:
'Everything went well!
[ Mikhail ]We have a client who wants to go further, and the sum is 3-4 times higher'
[ Mikhail ]Her eyes light up…
and she's, like: 'Well, why not?!'
[ Mikhail ]And that's it! It pulls you in – a beautiful life, beautiful hotel rooms…
[ Olesya ]In the 90s and 2000s, it was: 'A prostitute!? That's it for you!
[ Olesya ]You can't go out, you'll get looks or tomatoes thrown at you'
[ Olesya ]But now, with the advent of Instagram, society looks on it a little differently
because everyone's seen the yachts and luxurious resorts, and they want that too
[ Olesya ]So, now it's: 'Well, okay, there's an escort!
[ Olesya ]And there's a rich man, probably a sugar daddy!'
[ Olesya ]Some tolerance has appeared.
This arose as a response to the general stratification of society.
[ LEV SCHEGLOV PROFESSOR, SEXOLOGIST, PSYCHOTHERAPIST ]A demand for top-flight prostitutes has arisen.
[ Lev ] This is why 'escorts' appeared:
the emergence of those who proudly believe they're categorically different
from their 'sisters' standing on the street
or whom madams take out to some yard at night
[ Lev ] There was even a certain trend, when rich sugar daddies appeared
with beautiful, slender girls a head taller than them on their arms
[ Lev ] There are higher requirements for grooming, clothing…
even education
[ Lev ] And the money's different, but, in essence, it's the same
[ Olesya ]Better?
[ Olesya ]All the money I got from men, I invested in my appearance:
in lips, teeth, breasts, various plastic surgeries
[ Olesya ]And I bought a lot of other stuff too.
[ Olesya ]I looked different 5 years ago.
[ Olesya ]I didn't have big breasts.
[ Olesya ]I augmented them because I wanted to look like Pamela Anderson.
[ Olesya ]I was a platinum blonde.
[ Olesya ]Then I decided to pump up my lips because it was a trend.
[ Andrey ]A 16th-century vase!
[ Andrey ]A 380,000-euro pooch!
[ Andrey ]I hate it!
[ ANDREY KOVALYOV BUSINESSMAN ]All those girls … Bentley, Porsche, Louboutin shoes…
[ Andrey ]And all those silicone… That's not for me!
[ Andrey ]There's no way I could do it with a girl for money
[ Andrey ]It seems to me that's so… I'm a romantic, a musician!
[ Andrey ]I always tell these girls:
'Gals, don't think about those Louboutin shoes, that Versace and stuff…'
[ Andrey ]That only scares men off, understand? Better to dress more modestly!
[ Olesya ]I was a beautiful child. Here's a picture of me with a maple leaf
[ Olesya ]I was born in September, so maple suits me
[ VO ]Olesya Malibu is no alien who dropped in on us from outer space!
[ VO ]She was born in Korolev near Moscow, Russia’s largest science
city. Her name was Olesya Kozhevnikova. As a child she was
noted for her fighting spirit and a certain view of the world.
[ Olesya ]I used to fight with the kids in school.
[ Olesya ]They hated me because I called them bums and low-lifes.
[ Olesya ]I regarded them with disdain,
and so, they called me a rat or degenerate, and the like
[ Olesya ]The interesting thing is, they are still bums...
[ Olesya ]Out of curiosity, I looked at their social media pages
[ Olesya ]They're still driving old Soviet cars
[ Olesya ]So, I don't regret not socialising with
them because they might have influenced me.
and I'd also be a bum sleeping with people for free.
[ Olesya ]Can you imagine? What a nightmare!
[ Lev ]The lines have been blurred.
[ Lev ]And so many ordinary people, especially young people…
[ Lev ]They don't even really see the difference between going to work as a prostitute
or as a saleswoman, or as an officer worker, or as a cleaning lady.
[ Lev ]They only see the difference in one thing:
it seems that prostitution is more fun and brings in more money.
[ Lev ]That's it!
[ Olesya ]In my youth, I tried working…
when I was 15.
[ Olesya ]My aunt and I used to sell underwear at a shopping centre
[ Olesya ]I started working part-time.
[ OLESYA MALIBU SOCIAL MEDIA CELEBRITY, MODEL ]I thought it was necessary.
[ Olesya ]I probably worked 2 weeks, not much at all, and I thought: 'Why do I need this?'
[ Olesya ]To sit in a mall from 9 to 9 selling panties and bras for pennies?
[ Mikhail ]I have some friends around 20 years old,
young rich boys.
[ Mikhail ]In principle, they could get girls themselves, but that's no fun for them.
[ Mikhail ]They find it easier to pay to get an elite girl, have some good times with her,
and then tell his friends: 'Look, I nailed Miss Arkhangelsk,' or something like that
[ Mikhail ]Then, there are men aged 35 years and up.
[ Mikhail ]These are wealthy guys that probably already have a family,
who want to have a little fun and take a break from family life, but don't want to get caught.
[ Mikhail ]The third kind are probably just men with money
who choose the easiest way.
[ Olesya ]There was a man who saw me. He'd come to buy lingerie for his wife.
'My wife's breasts are like yours'
[ Olesya ]I said, 'Yeah?' And for whatever reason, I smiled…
[ Olesya ]It appealed to me that he liked my breasts.
[ Olesya ]They were natural back then, big ones too.
[ Olesya ]And he started to flirt with me:
'Why don't you give me your number? I'll call you'
[ Olesya ]So, I gave him my number, he called and invited me out.
[ Olesya ]And after that date, I never returned to the shop.
[ VO ]Traps are being laid for those who delight in corrupting sweet young things. In fact,
the trap is already set, and those very same youngsters, who have now become seasoned
huntresses, are lying in wait for unsuspecting males. One of them, having decided
to share her rich experience, has even opened a so-called "School for Kept Women".
[ Elena ]Despite my striking appearance and sort of cutie-pie looks,
[ ELENA FILITOVICH HEAD, KEPT MISTRESS SCHOOL, WRITER ]I study really hard
and probably dispel the myth of beautiful girls or blondes being dumb.
[ Elena ]In my 'kept mistress' school,
[ Elena ]I mostly use knowledge I've found in books in my classes
[ Elena ]Today, I'm meeting a girl at a petrol station for a practice lesson, so I really need to go...
[ Elena ]We'll be talking to men
[ Elena ]We'll be selecting handsome, well-dressed ones, and, occasionally, just any kind
[ Woman ]Any kind?
[ Elena ]Don't the pot-bellied ones come in anymore? We used to take anyone who paid
[ Elena ]He's sleeping in his undies.
[ Elena ]I've lived in Moscow for a little more than three years
[ Elena ]Before that I lived all my adult life in Irkutsk
[ Elena ]And when I flew to Moscow for the first time, when I saw the beautiful big buildings here,
the luxurious chic restaurants, the expensive cars, the mansions,
how life's arranged here, how everything's different,
it turned out that there's a completely different life from the one in my small town
[ Elena ]So, when I returned to Irkutsk, I began to develop a plan for taking Moscow by storm
[ Elena ]So, I arrived enthusiastic about conquering Moscow
[ Elena ]I met men, they supported me, but then time passed, and I lost that support
[ Elena ]The money ran out and I had to move back and forth to Irkutsk for two years in a row
[ Woman ] Hey handsome! Can you help us out? [ Man ]Yes, how?
[ Woman ] We need money for Petrol. And you're very handsome!
[ Woman ]Can you spare $30?Anything will help. We don't know what to
do! Please, we've been here 2 hours!
[ Man ]I'm not giving you $30!
[ Elena ]20? - I've already paid
[ Elena ]Well, 15 then! I need it, I'll give you $1
[ Elena ]Give me a respectable sum, at least $10…
[ Elena ]Yes, thank you very much! Wait, and your phone number.
[ Elena ]We don't have change.
[ Elena ]Thank you!
[ Woman ] What's his name? [ Elena ]Yee-gor!
[ Elena ]So, Igor didn't want to part with his money, but he couldn't resist our charms
[ Elena ]I decided to start a school for kept women. Initially, it was just a survival strategy: how does
a girl survive in Moscow who doesn't work or want to work despite her two degrees, and so on.
[ Elena ]And the strategy worked!
[ Elena ]First, I encountered a huge wall of resistance.
[ Elena ]Imagine!
[ Elena ]A provincial girl flies to Moscow and pushes 'kept mistresses'. No one said a word.
[ Elena ]I'm writing a book and my publisher said: 'Let's use a pseudonym or the shameful tag
'mistress' will stick to you for life'. I said: 'I've been through all that and I don't
care what anyone thinks. It's my life, this is how I like to live it and will live it'.
[ Woman ] Hey handsome, can you help us out?
[ Man ] I'm in a mask, how can I be handsome? [ Elena ]You're rugged.
[ Man ] How can I help you? [ Elena ]We need $30 to refuel.
[ Man ] For petrol? [ Elena ] Yes, we've been here 2 hours, help us!
[ Elena ]No, we've already called everyone, our friends are all in some stupid crisis
[ Elena ]Did he go for money or what? - No, he just left
[ Elena ]We have a plan, a certain revenue target, it's nothing personal, it's just business
[ Elena ]Take everything! All at once! Only the best!
[ Elena ]What was our record? $450 in 3 hours, that was a record
[ Elena ]That was the biggest haul in the 3 years I've done this.
[ Elena ]But on average, you can easily get $150 in an hour and a half.
[ Elena ]Two rounds a day brings in $300
[ VO ]For the uninitiated, ‘produce’ is a term coined by a ‘positive
psychology coach’! That’s how Elena refers to herself. In layman’s terms,
and to put it more bluntly, it’s actually begging. Up to 300,000 rubles
a month — this is the prize money ‘the coach’ promises her trainees!
[ VO ]The phrase ‘Kept Woman’ appears to have a certain cachet. At least, in some
circles. And, worryingly, those circles are expanding fast. Books and films
about the beautiful lives of kept women are being discussed actively on
social media, while the number of this coach’s trainees is increasing daily.
[ Olga ]I came to Moscow and began to successfully study and study and study
[ OLGA SOBOL TRAINEE, KEPT MISTRESS SCHOOL ]Online wasn't enough, I needed practice, but that still wasn't enough
[ Olga ]I need more time with Lena to change my mindset
[ Olga ]Work is such slavery! When I worked, I earned around $600 per month
[ Olga ]I had a psychosomatic attack.
[ Olga ]Now, I know only I can earn my daily bread, so from 12 to 3, I'm at some petrol station
[ Olga ]I first came here because I lived nearby. I was shaking, I couldn't say a
word, I couldn't even ask for $10. When they gave me $10 in June, I was happy!
[ Olga ]Then incrementally: 20, 30, 100! Then they gave me 500, 700!
[ Olga ]I thought: 'Is this even real?!'
[ Olga ]Then I came to a restaurant one day and successfully
met my young man, with whom I'm now in a relationship.
[ Olga ]He's made me his mistress.
[ Elena ]I divide men into 2 categories – service personnel and high-profile men worthy of relationships.
[ Elena ]Society teaches: marry someone and keep your head out of the clouds, there are no princes.
[ Elena ]A girl can love anyone, but they need to be tested so she gives her love
to the best, to provide for her brood, so her offspring won't die out!
[ Elena ]In the wild, weak males don't breed!
[ VO ]Fortunately, having to live by the law of the jungle isn’t necessarily applicable.
[ ANDREY KOVALYOV BUSINESSMAN ]There are some girls who immediately name a price, and off you go!
[ Andrey ]They're the least interesting, but there are tricky ones.
[ Andrey ]These seep into your soul without you noticing.
[ Andrey ]A car, a car, a flat… Understand?
[ Andrey ]And you don't even notice because you're madly in love: these are the scariest!
[ Andrey ]You know, this is the bitterest thing
because I believe I'm the kind of person who can be liked
without money and all this flashy stuff around me.
[ Andrey ]And by the way, just out of principle, I take the metro.
[ Andrey ]I put on tattered jeans and a bedraggled jacket.
[ Andrey ]I also like to take a cardboard tube along, glasses like this, duct taped together.
[ Andrey ]And I'll meet a girl and take her to McDonald's
because I want to be loved not for what I have, but what I have inside.
[ VO ]Apparently, the real princes pass unnoticed by our might-have-been princesses.
[ Olesya ]I just thought that, you know, why should I date a guy from school?
[ Olesya ]The romantic appeal of studying at the same college,
[ OLESYA MALIBU SOCIAL MEDIA CELEBRITY, MODEL ]munching snacks in the courtyard together…
[ Olesya ]That never attracted me, when there were such fine men around who came to our store.
[ Olesya ]They drove fancy cars – Mercedes, BMWs.
[ Olesya ]They had luxury flats.
[ Olesya ]And as soon as I saw them, I wanted to have sex with them
because I instantly felt like a privileged female, understand?
[ LEV SCHEGLOV PROFESSOR, SEXOLOGIST, PSYCHOTHERAPIST ]You can imagine what it will look like in 20 years, right?
[ Lev ]But, mostly, this is exhaustion and emotional weariness.
[ Lev ]What is intimate? It's hidden from others' eyes.
[ Lev ]It's very deep and profound.
[ Lev ]But here it becomes 'everyday'.
[ Lev ]This intimacy already isn't intimate in any way, but
demanded, sometimes with shouts, screams, and even fists.
[ Lev ]Just like from any customer.
[ Lev ]Would he turn out to be a sexual sadist?
[ Lev ]Big question!
[ Olesya ]Escorts aren't prostitutes.
[ Olesya ]Prostitutes are women who come from the village and get a job in a brothel.
[ Olesya ]And they don't pay taxes, understand?
[ Olesya ]They have no rights in the brothel, none!
[ Olesya ]They have handlers, madams or pimps.
[ Olesya ]So, they just have to do whatever they're told,
like not sleeping at night, taking clients at night.
[ Olesya ]And these clients are terrible drunks, some may be drug addicts or antisocial types,
and that's what I consider prostitution.
[ Olesya ]Consequently, they don't contribute a penny to the state.
[ Olesya ]But I do! I have property that I pay taxes on.
[ Olesya ]So, if we're talking about me, you can't say I'm somehow antisocial or have low social responsibility.
[ Olesya ]I have very high social responsibility, I have medical insurance…
[ Andrey ]You know, I can kind of understand the men:
running a business, sleeping 3-4 hours a night, many have literally no time for a relationship.
[ Andrey ]And considering the scale of their business, to
pay $10,000 is such pocket change they don't even notice.
[ Andrey ]I think it's some kind of contract
[ Andrey ]But it's prostitution, plain and simple, you can dress it up with fancy words,
but that's what it is
[ Lev ]Behind the bravado of a prostitute, a painful past is most often hidden.
[ Lev ]At the back of their minds, some might feel shame…
a feeling they've wasted their lives.
[ Lev ]I don't believe that any prostitute has escaped violence
or disgusting, horrific events in her life.
[ Lev ]For a prostitute, humiliation, insults,
physical abuse, loathing, and so on…
that's part of her profession.
[ ELENA FILITOVICH HEAD, KEPT MISTRESS SCHOOL, WRITER ]I've hit rock
bottom, survived poverty and some kind of war with a criminal gang.
[ Elena ]I've had life experiences I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.
[ Elena ]I wouldn't want to live through it again, but since I've accumulated this baggage,
I have something to share with this world, I have a lot to give.
[ VO ]Naturally, they gloss over certain things and try to forget others. But crime
reports provide regular reminders of the dangers their line of work entails.
[ VO ]In the spring of 2020, Nikulinsky District Court of Moscow found Maksim
Gareyev guilty of the murder of Yekaterina Syomochkina, a beauty-blogger.
[ VO ]Grisly shots of the dismembered young woman’s body, found
in a suitcase in July of 2019, shocked the entire country.
[ VO ]The model who took part in numerous photo shoots, including racy ones, was famous among her circle. It’s said
she was an escort. It appears from these images that it’s unlikely she travelled anywhere at her own expense.
[ Ekaterina Semochkina's Instagram ]Look at how beautiful it is here!
[ VO ]Expensive dresses, provocative poses… Shortly before her
murder, she was planning to go to Europe with a 52-year-old admirer.
[ VO ]The hallways’ surveillance cameras show a suspicious-looking man. He’s wearing a cap that hides
his face. Later, the same man went out in different clothes. He was carrying a suitcase and wearing
gloves, although it was +20 degrees outside. In fact, the victim’s blood-stained clothes were in
the suitcase. He planned to remove the other suitcase, containing the mutilated body, later on.
[ VO ]The perpetrator’s identity had been familiar on dating and sex market websites
for quite some time. He was known by the name of Ken Doll, and had been rumoured
to be a generous client. When he was interrogated, he explained that Katya had
destroyed his carefully preserved self-image, and had rudely and unceremoniously
shown him the door.
[ Olesya ]What's my dream? To live and get high off life!
[ Elena ]I dream of marrying a lord.
[ Elena ]Either I'll marry him when I'm already very rich,
or I'll marry some Russian hero and he'll become a lord next to me.
[ Elena ]That's my plan!