We use cookies on this website. By continuing to use this site without changing your cookie settings, you agree that you are happy to accept our privacy policy and for us to access our cookies on your device.
Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: KENYA LGBTQ EXTORTION (TV/R)
HEADLINE: LGBTQ+ Kenyans decry surging blackmail, extortion on dating apps
TEASER: Community says some hookup platforms are exposing users to robbery, abuse
PUBLISHED: 06/26/2024 at 2:22p
BYLINE: Juma Majanga
DATELINE: Nairobi, Kenya
VIDEOGRAPHER: Amos Wangwa
VIDEO EDITOR: Amos Wangwa
ASSIGNING EDITOR: Penny Dixon
SCRIPT EDITORS: DLJ, cobus
VIDEO SOURCE: VOA Original
PLATFORMS: WEB __ TV _X_ RADIO _X_
TRT: 3:34
VID APPROVED BY: Reifenrath
EDITOR NOTES: ))
((INTRO)) [[In Kenya, where same-sex relations constitute a crime punishable by up to 14 years in prison, the only option for the LGBTQ+ community to meet is through dating apps and social media. But now, those Kenyans say, the platforms are being used to trap victims in a web of blackmail, extortion, physical and sexual assault. Juma Majanga reports from Nairobi, Kenya.]]
((NARRATION))
Kelly Mathew Muteti is making his way to the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi on a quest to seek justice.
The 37-year-old openly gay Muteti says he lost a half a million Kenyan shillings, equivalent to about $4,000 U.S. dollars, plus other household items, when a man he met online and invited to his house drugged and robbed him.
Muteti says he could not report the incident to police for fear of being prosecuted because of his sexual orientation. He says he was also fired from his job for raising the issue of his safety.
((Kelly Mathew Muteti, Victim of Extortion (male, English))
“If it is discovered that you have a different sexual orientation, one, the police will either jail you that point in time. Or if you actually find someone who is slightly friendly, they will try to investigate; they reach one stage, they ask you for more money. So, in essence, you lose more than you gain. So, you just leave that case.”
((NARRATION))
Same-sex relations are a crime in Kenya, punishable by up to 14 years imprisonment.
According to GALCK, the Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya, social media and dating apps have provided generally safe spaces for members to meet and interact. But that is changing, says Kelly Kigera, GALCK’s emergency security response officer.
((Kelly Kigera, Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya ((male, English))
“When you are meeting a fellow queer person or a gay person, they catfish you from the sites or from these applications. Then, when you’re going to meet them, you find that they are blackmailing you because of your sexual orientation or gender identity. By this is where they try and draw money from you, or out you to the public, or beat you up, or harass you, or even rape you.”
((NARRATION))
Kigera says GALCK has recorded more than 1,000 cases of blackmail and extortion against their members in the last 12 months, up from 50 cases recorded previously over a similar period.
Kigera says the group wants safety and security parameters put in place to protect their members.
((Kelly Kigera, Gay and Lesbian Coalition of Kenya ((male, English)) ((18 secs))
“We cannot limit people’s way of doing things or way of their life or accessing these apps. But there is an aspect of us making people accountable — the people who are using these apps, or the people who own the applications, or the people who are more driven — even the police officers — to open doors for people to report so that people can have justice.”
((NARRATION))
In February of last year, Kenya’s Supreme Court upheld the right of LGBTQ+ organizations to register in the country. The ruling has emboldened organizations like GALCK to encourage their members to take some extortion and blackmail cases to court.
Muteti, however, is not optimistic about getting justice.
((Kelly Mathew Muteti, Victim of Extortion (male, English))
“The only time our issues will ever be heard is when someone who has a lot of empathy, who listens to our cases and doesn’t view us for our sexual habits and view us for the lifestyle that we are human beings. That is the only time our court cases will be heard. Otherwise for as long as we have heterosexual people who view us for the sexual habits we have, we will never have our cases heard.”
((NARRATION))
A bill recently introduced in the Kenyan parliament seeks to increase the maximum punishment for anyone found guilty of same-sex relations from 14 years imprisonment to death.
((Juma Majanga, VOA News, Nairobi))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
