However, even here in the United States, it’s astonishing how vulnerable young models are to exploitation. Indeed, some young Russian models find international success - as evidenced on the catwalks of New York Fashion Week. Masha’s fate is currently unknown our recent efforts to contact her have not been successful, but her Facebook page suggests she is still an aspiring model. Arbaugh initially approached us and suggested we make a film, which became a feature-length documentary, “Girl Model.” She wrote to us: “I have been traveling and documenting in Russia and Ukraine the journey of these young girls that become prostitutes and fashion models, or the foggy lines that exist between both.” Our feature documentary, from which this Op-Doc is adapted, traverses these foggy lines.

When we filmed Masha in 2009, the scouts said that these girls - often poor in a society of extreme income inequality - are desirable not just for their looks but because they are malleable and easier to guide and direct. The Op-Doc also introduces Ashley Arbaugh, a former American model turned international model scout, who seeks out teenagers with her Russian comrades. Rural Siberia is a thriving location for scouts hoping to recruit teenage girls as young as 12 and export them overseas.

Sometimes hundreds of girls audition at these model castings other times a few dozen show up.

In this Op-Doc video we present Masha, a 13-year-old aspiring model who attends an open casting call in Siberia, Russia.

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