Accra, Ghana - As Benson
walked across the street towards his date in Ghana's capital,
Accra, he saw something was wrong - it was not the man he had
been messaging on the popular gay dating app Grindr.
Sensing danger, Benson tried to get away but two other men
grabbed him from behind, started beating him and ordered him to
hand over his bag and mobile phone. When they threatened him
with a knife, he also gave them the passcode to his phone.
"I gave them everything because life is more important," the
27-year-old, who declined to give his full name, told the
Thomson Reuters Foundation.
"After beating me up and pushing me in the gutter, they left
... I went home with a broken jaw."
Benson's ordeal is increasingly common in countries where
homosexuality is illegal. While the internet has made it easier
for LGBT+ communities to find and build relationships online, it
has also exposed them to new risks.
In Egypt, Morocco and Nigeria, gay men are often blackmailed
and outed by fake dates who trick them into sharing intimate
photos which they post online. The police also use social media
to lure them to false meetings and make arrests.
Ghana is one of more than 30 African countries that outlaw
same-sex relations, according to the LGBT+ rights group ILGA.
While prosecutions are rare, homophobia is widespread and
those who are outed often have their lives upended as they are
ostracised by friends and family and can lose their jobs.
Alex Kofi Donkor, head of local activist group LGBT+ Rights
Ghana, decided to fight back last year on Twitter and Facebook
with the Ghana Gay Blackmail List, which exposes "notorious
persons who steal, abuse & blackmail gay men".
The group, which has 1800 followers, has named and shamed
about two dozen men by publishing their photos along with the
apps they use, the places they frequent and a warning: "Share
widely, be alert and don't be the next victim".
"We are in a country where our lives are clearly in danger
as a result of people's hatred and their disgust towards the
community," Donkor said.
"A lot of times, we are unable to achieve justice for the
crimes that have been committed so the best we can also do is to
protect ourselves."
Gay Blackmail List
A link on the Ghana Gay Blackmail List page allows members
of the public to report cases, which are investigated within
closed gay and bisexual social media groups for additional
crowdsourced testimonies before publication, Donkor said.
"Once we have posted, there are retweets and so a lot of
people are warned as a result and if they are chatting with
them, they (stop talking to) them," said Donkor, who gets three
or four reports of robbery, blackmail and abuse each week.
Nana Kwame, a bisexual man, was robbed and threatened with
blackmail after meeting up with a man he'd been messaging on
Grindr in a house in Accra.
His date went to use the bathroom and returned with two
other men who asked Nana Kwame what he was doing there.
"Before I could answer, I was hit in the face," said the
24-year-old who declined to give his full name.
One man rushed to lock the door of the room and then they
forced Nana Kwame to unlock his phone and erased all of its
contents.
"One of the guys brought the Bible and made me swear that if
I leave the place I will change," Nana Kwame said. "I was
outnumbered, it was three against one, so I had to submit."
One of the men said he knew Nana Kwame's brother and
threatened to out him to his family unless he phoned someone to
send 500 cedi ($88) to his mobile wallet.
Nana Kwame stayed silent. They gave up and let him go.
Homophobia
As men who have sex with men can face up to three years in
jail in Ghana, they are usually too scared to report these
robberies to the police as this could lead to them being outed,
which carries a far greater personal cost, said Donkor.
"One of the quick actions families take is to sack the
person from the home. Once you are outed, that also means that
your source of livelihood is also threatened," he said.
Donkor encourages gay men who have been robbed and
blackmailed to report the incidents to the police, telling them
"meeting a new friend is not a crime". But only about 30% are
willing to take that first step, he said.
Benson and Nana Kwame said they reported their cases to the
police but no arrests were made.
"There is a level of impunity when it comes to the abuse of
LGBT+ persons," said Donkor.
"You sense that kind of laid back attitude from the police
... there is a certain level of homophobia."
Ghana Police Service said that any cases of police
misconduct should be reported to more senior officers.
"Persons who have cases to report to the police should not
be worried about their sexual orientation," a spokeswoman said.
"All complainants are treated equally."
Unable to rely on the police to keep them safe, LGBT+
communities in many countries are searching for their own
solutions.
LGBT+ Nigerians also have a blackmail list, called
#KitoAlert, although the system's administrator has complained
online that it is ineffective because people do not use it
before meeting strangers.
Grindr, which is used by more than 4 million people a day
globally, has introduced numerous safety measures to protect
users, including unsending messages, blocking screenshots and
disguising the app's icon on their phones.
Donkor believes more can be done. He would like gay dating
apps to provide legal support to men who fall victim to
criminals when using their apps.
"There should be a mechanism in place to support local
organisations to challenge some of the abuses that happen as a
result of using the app," he said.
"It will serve as a warning to others who (plan) to use the
app to abuse and blackmail users."
Benson has found a foolproof solution - he no longer uses
dating apps.
"There are a lot of fraudsters on Grindr," he said.
"Anything can just happen to you."