On Valentine's Day, a 19-year-old student, Joy Kalekye, received a shocking call informing her that she was featured in a video circulating on social media. The clip portrayed her alongside a male stranger who approached her on a Nairobi street without her consent. This incident is part of a wider troubling trend in which men, often armed with hidden cameras, film interactions with women and share the videos online for entertainment or profit, sometimes amassing millions of views. Activists across Kenya and Ghana have voiced their outrage, labeling the man's actions as unacceptable. Yet, online reactions to these women have been rife with ridicule and abuse, fostering victim-shaming narratives.
Kalekye expressed her feelings of being 'like a celebrity, but not in a good way,' and emphasized the need to shift public scrutiny away from the victims towards holding the perpetrators accountable. Brenda Yambo, a legal counsel at the Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya, explained how societal norms lead to emphasizing women's behaviors rather than condemning the wrongful act of non-consensual recording. As discussions on consent and the ethics of social media evolve, the plight of these women highlights urgent issues around privacy, accountability, and the consequences of public shaming.
The uproar has gained international attention, especially after the man behind these videos, 36-year-old Vladislav Liulkov, came under scrutiny for violating laws against filming without consent. Activists call for legal action, pushing against the trend of enabling harassment and sexualization through social media channels, while women like Kalekye assert their right to narrative and self-advocacy in the face of public disdain.
Kalekye expressed her feelings of being 'like a celebrity, but not in a good way,' and emphasized the need to shift public scrutiny away from the victims towards holding the perpetrators accountable. Brenda Yambo, a legal counsel at the Federation of Women Lawyers in Kenya, explained how societal norms lead to emphasizing women's behaviors rather than condemning the wrongful act of non-consensual recording. As discussions on consent and the ethics of social media evolve, the plight of these women highlights urgent issues around privacy, accountability, and the consequences of public shaming.
The uproar has gained international attention, especially after the man behind these videos, 36-year-old Vladislav Liulkov, came under scrutiny for violating laws against filming without consent. Activists call for legal action, pushing against the trend of enabling harassment and sexualization through social media channels, while women like Kalekye assert their right to narrative and self-advocacy in the face of public disdain.
