Tapes that talk sex
Ghana is awash in tales of sex tapes, with both the young and the old being caught up in salacious stories of scandal.
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Motives for the making and releasing of sex tapes abound. Some are purely voluntary, while others have a more sinister intent.
In the course of the past week, Ghanaians were distracted from talking about the state of the economy, the World Cup debacle or even the Ebola health scare by three sensational stories of leaked sex tapes, one of them allegedly involving children of prominent citizens.
Reasons for making sex tapes
Dr Felix Odartey-Wellington, a Communications Professor at the Cape Breton University, with research interests in media ecology and communications law, explained to The Mirror that the flood of sex tapes was the product of the contemporary media and social ecosystem or environment. With the evolution of social media, he argued, our society had changed.
According to him, prior to the emergence of social media, the mass media, the government and corporate bodies communicated to the individual in an asymmetrical flow of information. However, he said, with social media, it all changed.
“Many have social networking Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, Whatsapp and Twitter accounts that allow for the instantaneous broadcasting of even the most trivial of activities to friends and the public,” he said.
He spelt out that recipients were able to instantly redistribute the messages, causing more sensational ones to go viral.
“Everyone can be a star. You don't have to be Miss Ghana to strut your stuff — you can post a YouTube video "twerking" or dancing provocatively in the privacy of your bedroom. Some people, therefore, voluntarily participate in the making and leaking of sex tapes to project their "bad" image to the public,” he said.
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The Mirror's research disclosed that the reason for making sex tapes varies among participants. For some, it is just to replay intimate activities for fun. Intimate partners, therefore, record themselves in bed because they want to see themselves in "full flight" or show videos to selected audiences for bragging rights. For others, though, it is for the purpose of embarrassing or blackmailing a partner.
The latter intent is often in the realm of what is known as "hidden-cam porn" and "revenge porn". The availability of small, discreet digital recording devices often integrated into smartphones and computer tablets allows for the secret videotaping of intimate sexual relations. The taping party subsequently releases the tape to achieve his or her malicious goals.
Recently, Ghanaian prosecutors have secured criminal convictions and prison sentences in cases of revenge porn. But more often than not, irrespective of the initial aims, the sex tape ends up in the public domain.
Sex tapes in Ghana
In the past, sex tapes were popular among celebrities in the Western world and quite foreign to Ghanaians. Ghana is predominantly a socially conservative country (censuses show that a Ghanaian is a Christian, a Muslim or African traditionalist) and the recent explosion of viral sex tapes on social media has sparked extensive gossip.
Just over the past week, tapes have emerged of couples in Accra, Kumasi and Tamale. The Accra case is said to have involved a minor, for which reason social networking site Whatsapp blocked the distribution of the viral video. The parties involved are said to be the children of prominent personalities and there is speculation that this accounts for the proactive approach adopted by Whatsapp. The video was still available on other media platforms.
The case in Kumasi ended in a tearful public apology by the lady involved on Facebook. She reassured her loved ones that she had "learnt her lessons" and not committed suicide, as previously reported. Many commented that that individual had a history of constantly splashing her photos on social media.
The case in Tamale has, however, become even more problematic because the story broke during the Holy Muslim month of Ramadan. Tamale is a tight-knit, socially conservative and mainly Muslim community.
In that case, a number of ladies were captured in leaked pornographic photographs and videos with the same man in kinky sexual trysts which have gone viral.
Many of the women have fled the metropolis, fearing public shame. This has moved the Gender Minister, Nana Oye Lithur, to appeal for psychological support for the deeply traumatised ladies. The police have also confirmed their intervention in this respect.
Information trending on social media indicates that one of the ladies was the fiancée of a Black Stars player who has since angrily demanded the return of the bride price from her family after he had seen the scandalous images. The man "credited" with the starring role in all the Tamale videos is said to be the son of a former district chief executive, who is now the principal of a college of education.
According to the reports, the young man, who intentionally videotaped and photographed his sexual encounters with the women, lives in Canada and engaged in the acts when he visited Ghana recently. He has since returned to Canada, leaving the poor women to their fate.
Sex tapes have also exposed abuse of office and misdeeds. In a recent a case, a university lecturer inadvertently videotaped a conversation with a female student on how he could help her improve her grades in exchange for sexual favours. The conversation soon progressed to the point of intimacy in the office.
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Subsequently, when he found out his error, he deleted the file from the video folder on his laptop but forgot to do same in the recycle bin. Coincidentally, he hired another student who happened to be the lady's fiancé to format his hard drive.
That student discovered the video in the recycle bin while trying to save important documents before proceeding with the work. In extreme anger, instead of submitting the video to the school board for disciplinary action, he circulated the video among students on campus and even went as far as posting it online.
In addition, three senior high school students in Kumasi were also involved in a recent sex tape scandal. The two minute-video had one of the boys engaging in sex acts with the girl, while a friend filmed it. One can hear the two boys laughing and giggling while the girl appears to participate proudly.
The dossier of Ghanaian sex tapes will be incomplete without reference to the Bekwai and Akwatia cases, both of which feature Ghanaian men who live abroad but come to Ghana, engage in sex tourism and make tapes to commemorate or even market their "sexcapades".
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Sometimes, disturbingly, these tapes involve "barely-legal" girls or teenage girls who may or may not be above the age of legal consent and all these videos or images are available online.
In fact, The Mirror has found many websites dedicated to serving as databases for leaked sex tapes and photos from Africa, especially those emanating from Nigeria or "Naija", with Ghana coming a close second. The anonymity of the Internet and the availability of website software has made this possible.
Administrators can operate websites hosted on servers overseas, making it difficult for aggrieved parties to track them and hold them liable. Some of these sites are simply hosted on Facebook.
Unfortunately, website administrators often ask for a fee to take down embarrassing videos and images. While most websites offering leaks of Ghanaian sex tapes appear to be for
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