The Pursuit for a Sextortion Free Nigeria

By Elizabeth Olamigoke

Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the term sextortion as a means in which a perpetrator threatens to expose sexually compromising information ( such as sexually explicit private images or videos of the victim unless the victim meets certain demands. It is a crime of the digital age. Sextortion is a form of exploitation in which the victim is compelled to act in accordance to the perpetrator demand sexually or other means he or she is required.

All genders, both male and female is a potential victim of this anomaly which is gaining vast recognition in the global world, women are more prone, this is because most societies have placed a higher value on the cladding of the female folks as she is expected to be of good conducts and a situation where she is threatened with a picture of her nudity or videos of her having sex lackadaisically the first thing she tries to protect is what people would say about her, placing the society and her family first and in this situation she likely would give in to threats placed on her.

The release of ones sexually compromising information could emanate from different circumstances which can be through phone sex in which the victim sends her nudity to someone, taking videos of herself while having sex or masturbating, allowing your friends or lover to snap a photo of you, all this is done with a sense of trust towards the person gaining access to your nudity. Also, permit me to add that this could also happen unintentionally and the pictures could be posted online by oneself or by the person who has access to them but this seldom happens.

The adrenaline rush that comes with being threatened with ones sexual images can be great that the victim gets to a point of compromise giving in to the perpetrator demand which could be sexual, and if care is not taken one becomes a pawn in the hands of the abuser giving in to whatever is demanded of the victim at the victims expense. The sad truth though is that after giving in to the perpetrator he or she would still likely post the images on the internet , across social media platforms.

Behind every social media page is a human being, and it’s quite alarming how we help spread this wrongdoings posting it on different groups and discussing it amongst ourselves, and the damage is done not only by the threatener but also by those who helped publicise it out of their selfish interest or mainly out of curiosity. The victim might contemplate suicide, some actually committing suicide as that mark the end of a wonderful being made to perform exploit on planet earth, in a society where high value is placed on morality the victim might also be robbed of opportunities making life difficult and not worth living , depression and loss of self worth.

Where there is no law there is no sin’ and a system built on a solid foundation is bound to stay,laws should be enforced by the government on punishment’s to be bestowed upon extorters and such crime should be addressed in accordance with the punishment’s stated by the legislature, public enlightenments that is aimed at fostering victim not to succumb to threats placed on them but instead encourage them to report such.

Let’s not keep quiet, let’s raise our voice against the perpetrators of these crimes so that others who might fall victim of such would know that they are not alone , that they are not the first to experience such. When victims are brought to justice it brings about check and balance amongst the abusers.

In conclusion, I implore on not sending nude images to people you don’t trust, to avoid being naked in compromised place where you pictures could be taken without your knowledge and to avoid giving people a gadget your nudity is stored on.