Women wey dem secretly feem, den mock and abuse online

For Valentine Day, Joy Kalekye tok say she receive call from one friend wey dey sound really worried. Di friend ask make she check social media becos pesin don post video of her.

Di clip show Kalekye, wey be 19-year-old student den, dey stand alone for one busy road for Nairobi, she dey look her phone. Pesin wey dey feem come close to her, and say: "Hi, I like how you look."

Na encounter wey Kalekye don forget all about.

"I realise, oh na dis Russian guy wey I meet last year," she tell BBC World Service. Afta she watch di video, she understand say e don dey record her.

Kalekye dey feature for one of severl videos wey dem post online, wey show man wey dey approach women for Kenya and Ghana, dem no seem to know say e dey film dem.

E go touch dia hair, hold dia hands, ask for dia number, and say make dem meet am later.

Di women na victims of one global trend wia men wit hidden cameras dey feem interaction without consent and dey post di videos online, sometimes dem dey gada millions of views.

Some of di creators dey make money by posting for social media, or by selling guides wey claim to help men approach women.

Activists and politicians for both Kenya and Ghana don dey vex, dem dey call for di arrest of di man, inside di videos wey tok say im dey come from Russia.

But online, di women don also face blame, ridicule and abuse.

"E be like say you dey enjoy celebrity life, but no be for good way," Kalekye tok.

Dis public reaction, Brenda Yambo, wey be legal counsel for Federation of Women Lawyers for Kenya (FIDA-Kenya) tok, e dey promote harmful gender stereotypes and shift blame to di victims.

Instead of focusing on di wrongdoing - di non-consensual recording and distribution of di clips - society dey scrutinise di woman behavior, she tok.

"Dem go tok about her choices, her morality, her dress code," she tok, explaining say dis dey increase di harm wey dey happun to women and dey discourage victims from coming forward.

Afta di man approach her for March last year, Kalekye no gree accept im invitation to hang out.

But na dis year, her video and odas don go viral. Kenyan and Ghanaian social media accounts dey re-upload di clips, some even get hot captions for local languages to attract more pipo to dia profiles.

Kelvin Karume, 22, wey dey currently unemployed and dey try build im online presence as content creator for Nairobi, tok say e see di videos for one Russian YouTube channel.

E recall say one Sunday, e post one video for im own TikTok page just bifor e go church. Den e switch off im phone.

"For me, e dey okay to post di videos becos pipo dey find dem and I don download dem," Karume tell BBC World Service.

In two hours, e tok say e get about one million views and about 3,000 comments.

Afta Karume and odas don share di video wey Kalekye dey as she dey walk outside her house, she tok say one man call out "enda umeze dawa". For Swahili, dis mean say she suppose take anti-retroviral medicine wey dey treat HIV.

"He tok: 'Uta kufa wewe' [you go die]. E really depress me. And den e dey shout, pipo begin look me," she tok.

Karume tok say e don remove di video of Kalekye becos she drop comment underneath am, and e also remove anoda woman video afta she ask am.

E tell BBC say e no dey okay to "expose dem like dat" wit di videos dey go viral.

Even though, two oda videos of women wey no gree give consent still dey for im channel.

Karume say e no believe say e need to delete dem becos nobody don complain and di videos no get as much attention as di oda two.

As more social media accounts dey reupload di videos, Kenya's Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) don release statement, warning say resharing di non-consensual videos dey cause secondary victimisation and fit lead to criminal prosecution.

Ghana authorities don name di man wey feem di videos as 36-year-old Vladislav Liulkov, dem don release im passport foto and tok say dem wan bring am back to Ghana make e face charges under dia cybersecurity laws, alledging say e record private encounters without consent and dey make money from di content online. Nobody sabi im whereabout.

None of di videos wey dem review show di man face, so e hard to know if Liulkov na di one wey approach Kalekye.

We geo-locate three of di recordings of di women to Sarit Centre and TRM Mall for Nairobi, while odas dey Nyali Mall for di coastal city of Mombasa.

For Ghana, some women tok say e approach dem near Accra Mall for di capital.

Di voice for all dis videos dey very similar and even though im face no dey clear, im arm dey appear for shot and di man dey wear wetin look like blue Casio watch.

For some clips, both hands dey free, meaning e no dey hold camera.

One woman for Ghana wey wan remain anonymous, tell BBC Pidgin say she don dey approach am since January but she reject di offer to follow am.

She no dey aware of any recording of dis particular encounter online, but she believe say na di same man wey dey for di viral videos.

"I dey feel bad anytime I see dose fotos. E dey give me flashbacks. Dat fit e be me," she tok.

We see profiles of one Russian dating site wit fotos wey look like Liulkov, including one wia di man dey wear wetin look like blue watch wey dey very similar to di man wey record di videos.

One foto still dey wey dem post for April 2025, wia e dey wear wetin look like Meta's Ray Ban smart glasses and hat from di East African coast. E dey stand outside mosque for Mtwapa, one town wey dey outside Mombasa.

Russian media report say dey post video dem for social media channels wey mix word for male private part and glory for Russian.

Dem still get website wey fit use dis name, but all don clear now.

For archive version of di website, di owner dey sell personalised guide to approach women, wey cost 250 rubles (about $3; £2.30).

Similar videos wey get dis account name for watermark don dey circulate, including some wey fit come from oda places. For one video, man wey get similar accent and blue watch dey tok wit two women for Cuba.

Wen BBC contact am, Liulkov tok say e no dey behind any social media handles or websites wey dem dey tok about for media and e deny say e don approach women for Kenya, Ghana or Cuba wit smart glasses, or post intimate videos for paid or public channels.

To di Russian media outlet Vot Tak, e admit say e don meet women for Kenya and Ghana but e deny say e don feem dem.

Kalekye says she is talking about her ordeal publicly to counter what has been said about her.

She says she considered locking herself away but thought: "I'm strong. I don't have to stay here because of just something someone said."

She believes the negative reaction was self-righteous because the recordings captured an everyday occurrence and says people should stop judging.

​"They don't know how that small negative comment, that you can write down without caring, can affect someone's life."

Plenty pipo for online dey tok about how Kenyan and Ghanaian women dey behave, dem dey mock dem and dey use misogynistic slurs and insist say dem no be victims at all.

Kalekye tok say she dey tok her matta openly to show wetin pipo dey tok about her no true.

She tok say she tink say make she lock herself away but she reason am: "I dey strong. I no go just sit down here becos of wetin pesin tok."

She believe say di negative reaction na self-righteous becos di video wey capture wetin dey happun everyday, and say make pipo stop to dey judge.

"Dem no know how dat small negative comment wey you fit just write without care fit affect pesin life."