Emotional Blackmail of Gender and Sexually Diverse Persons

Cases of being emotionally and financially blackmailed because of one’s gender identity are common in Sub-Saharan Africa. These cases can rarely be reported to police or even family.

Published

14.10.2025

The story compiled by: Vincent Jumbe | Image: Joanna Kędra

Cases of psychological trauma arising from being blackmailed because of one’s gender identity were reported both in Ghana and Malawi. Our interlocutors termed this “emotional blackmail,” where gender and sexually diverse (GSD) people were lured by some members of the community into a sexual affair, only to be ambushed and blackmailed.

One interlocutor told us their experience:

"When I was in second year in the university, I met a guy on a dating app. After talking for some days, the guy told me to go to his place, in another town near Cape Coast. When I went to his house, I found several men in the sitting room, who forced me to undress. They started taking videos of me. They told me that I had been set up. They threatened to beat me up with a motorbike chain if I didn’t pay them the equivalent of 25 United States Dollars. They said they would upload my naked videos on social media. They took my phone and told me that if I don’t have money to pay, I must call my relatives to send me money. I called my brother, who sent me the money. They let me go after paying them. They said they had deleted the videos. But I did not tell my brother the real reason I called for the money. I did not report the case to the police. I reported the case to my boss. I work for a community-led NGO. My boss counseled and comforted me. But we did not go to the police. I knew they would arrest me because I was going for a homosexual hookup. The police couldn’t take up my case. Many of my friends have experienced similar cases of emotional and financial blackmail. They, too, could not report these cases to the police."

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