Angella Namirembe (L), Moses Kironde (R)
Nude scandalS: We have quite a number of incidents where people have been scandalised after pictures of them nude were published on social media. Isaac Sssejjombwe spoke to some young people to understand why and how victims can cope.
When it comes to nude scandals, women are the most vulnerable. One may argue that they are just reckless, while others may say they are taken advantage of. How often do we see men’s nudes, huh? And it is not just that they are not there but perhaps because not many people will pay attention.
In recent years, we have been hit by a wave of nude pictures and it does not help that we are in the Internet age, where the picture will spread as fast as a wildfire just by one click. We have seen cases such as Desire Luzinda, Cinderella Sanyu, Kleith Kyatuhaire, Judith Heard and recently Martha Kay, among others.
And these celebrities are not the only victims as the vice has also found its way to ordinary people, people we barely know but probably have their nakedness saved up on our phones. In light of Martha Kay’s scandal, we caught up with a few young people on the issue.
Ekyatuheire Kirabo, Student- Nudes are a cheap shot
Kirabo says she has not taken any nudes before but those who do probably do it out of love and trust. The university student does not see how releasing nudes is a perfect revenge because it in most cases makes the victim popular while it makes the offender look so cheap.
Kirabo thinks men need to stop releasing nudes as a way of revenge because there are so many other ways of getting revenge.
As for celebrities, she says it is pointless to imagine that celebs can release their own pictures, saying because even if it will bring them fame for a while it will not last as this will come back to haunt them in future…actually for the rest of their lives.
“The only way one can redeem themselves is by accepting that it happened and then taking counselling lessons and believing that they will be better.”
Angella Namirembe, Student/activist- It is done for love
Namirembe states that sending out nudes is sometimes done out of love because in most cases a partner requests for them or sends them to spice up a conversation with their partner, a thing that is common with long distance lovers.
“For some people, it seems like a normal thing and they will send them out to people who are not even their partners.”
She disregards the fact that nudes can be released for revenge, saying releasing the nudes would not be a perfect revenge because it aims at spoiling one’s reputation yet the public was not part of the relationship.
“It is also a shame to one’s sexuality before millions of people which she did not do for your case. I also believe it is sexual violence posting such content without one’s permission even if they agreed to take the photos and videos. It is a form of abuse.”
The activist notes that releasing nudes is not the best way for celebrities to create fame. “Fine it will draw attention, however, it demeans women and it is one way of objectifying women.”
She believes that the best way one can redeem themselves is by coming out and owning the pictures and later give a defensive reason as to why and how they leaked.
If the publishers of the images are not willing to remove them, then an injunction can be sought from court as this will prevent the images from continuing to be published elsewhere.
“Revenge porn can be a criminal offence. The website. www.saferinternet.org.uk has a record of getting images removed fast enough.”
Patricia Najjita
Patricia London Najjita, Businesswoman- Why take nudes at all?
“Personally, I believe that people send out nude pictures due to pressure from their ‘lovers’ who constantly demand them as a way of exciting their sexual desires.”
She also attributes this behaviour to fun and curiosity but believes such scandals are just a pedestal to fame and publicity, like in the case of Kim Khardashian.
She, however, believes that one’s nudes leaking does not mean the end of the world because people redeem themselves differently.
“Some resort to drinking and getting wasted. But I think the best way of redeeming yourself after such an incident is spending time with friends, family and getting time off social media.”
Unik Juvenile, Events manager- It does not bother me
Unik says he has taken nude pictures before and did it because it was a way of stimulating his partner’s sexual feelings.
Concerning celebrities taking nudes, he agrees that the habit is common, especially among those who are money oriented.
To Unik, the culture of people’s nudes being leaked everywhere no longer bothers him because it has become more of a norm.
“It no longer bothers me so much like it used to back then. You will find a person whose nudes were leaked a fortnight ago happily engaging with peers.”
Moses Kironde, Photographer- It is not a publicity stunt
Kironde does not believe that exposing nudes is a publicity stunt for celebrities because there is no way someone sane would want to lose their dignity in such a way.
He says celebrities have many ways of pulling off stunts to bring attention and nudes exposure is degrading and in most cases the victims end up being depressed.
“So I don’t think one can intentionally expose their nudes and yet they know that after that, they are going to end up depressed,” he said.
The photographer, however, says one of the ways one can redeem themselves from a nudes scandal is by keeping a low profile to gain back their self-esteem because they cannot reverse what has already been done.
“They just have to get back their confidence so that they can still stand out and continue with their career despite the attacks everyone has thrown towards them.”
Hilda Bahati
Hilda Bahati- Life & relationships coach
It is not good for people’s nudes to be all over but apart from a few celebrities who have done it as a stunt, most people whose nudes appear on media platforms are not actually their own doing.
The only part that they contribute to is that they pose for the pictures. Some pictures are taken while people are unaware but it is not their doing that they want them uploaded. It just happens that people are victimised through blackmail.
Most people whose nudes have been released are either victims of love-gone-bad and I think we have seen it most of the time that it is the woman’s nudes that come out and it is just a few scenarios where I have seen men’s nudes being leaked.
So it could be a case where a man cannot take it that the woman left him and then he blackmails her. So it is people who cannot tame their emotions.
I mean, relationships end day in day out but not everyone releases nudes even if they have them so I would call them small minded people and people who cannot manage their faculties and I would also actually say they were not in love.
It was just infatuation or a possession but not love because if someone loves you, they are willing to fight for you, cover you and respect you because they will still be your friends.
Redemption
There is nothing that a victim can do to salvage the situation because what they say or do after the nudes leak actually brings more fire to the whole situation or sprouts out more debate and more questions from the public, so the best thing is to ignore the public and just go silent or maybe apologise to a few people that are in their lives, for example family or friends. They can also talk to someone like a counsellor to help them gain their confidence and advice.
My two cents, when someone asks for nudes, it definitely means that you are already in a relationship. Even when you are not in a relationship, they will still send you nudes but if someone asks for nudes, that is a no.
If they can see you naked and sleep with you then why would they want to keep pictures of you? If you are in a relationship, they should respect you and if they are far away, they can wait until you meet but I advise people never to send nudes.
