Nancy Ndegwa was having lunch when her phone rang. It was not an unusual call. But within seconds, the conversation would turn her quiet afternoon into one of the most frightening experiences of her life.

“If you don't want us to destroy your reputation, please send Sh 50,000,” the caller told her.

Nancy, popularly known as Mama Street, was stunned.

“From where? Personally, I don't have Sh50,000,” she recalls asking.

She had not committed a crime. She had not taken a compromising photograph. She had simply answered a video call from someone she believed wanted to support her work with street-connected children.

What she did not know was that the seemingly innocent conversation was being turned into a sextotion, a form of Technology facilitated Gender Based Violence.

Nancy, the founder of Realz hands of Love, had been enjoying increased public attention after receiving a national honour for her work and awarded a National Hero title. Her visibility on social media had grown, with hundreds following her journey of rescuing, rehabilitating and reintegrating street-connected children.

She explains that the sender presented herself as an American woman interested in supporting Nancy’s organisation financially. Believing she had found a potential partner, Nancy shared her organisation’s contact.

The woman later requested a video call.

“I was at home, dressed in a pink dress. The conversation was brief and centered around the work I do. The caller claimed her phone screen was damaged and promised to send money after visiting the bank,” she recalls.

Nothing about the conversation raised alarm. Hours later, everything changed.

Nancy received another call from a different number. The caller had a video that appeared to show her naked and demanded Sh 50,000 to prevent it from being circulated.

The footage, she says, had been manipulated using artificial intelligence.

“They had just undressed me. You can see from the beginning of the video that it is me, well-dressed, and then they have done some AI manipulation to produce a nude video of me.” she explains.

Following the video being shared to her directly, the threat was no longer confined to her phone. The scammers began sending the manipulated video to people close to her, including friends, supporters and partners who worked with her organization. They also created more than 20 pseudo accounts on Facebook under her name and shared the video.

For Nancy, the most painful part was knowing that people she had built relationships with could suddenly receive a video portraying her in a way that was completely false.

“I felt weak and sickly. The thought of people seeing me in video was mentally taxing, let alone receiving the numerous calls and having to set the record straight” she says before taking a pause.

She stayed indoors, struggling to process what was happening. But then something unexpected happened. The people who received the video did not turn against her, instead, some called her.

“They offered to have a cup of coffee with me and reassured me they will walk the journey with me and support me to get justice. What comforted me is they deleted the video as soon as it landed on their phones,” she noted.

Nancy said they could have shared the video and destroyed her reputation within minutes, but they chose to protect her.

“That support system really helped me,” she says.

Rather than pay the blackmailers, Nancy reported the incident to police where she was redirected to the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) and sought help. She says the number was traced to Machakos county, while several of the fake accounts were reported and eventually disappeared.

She notes the process, however, came with an emotional and financial cost. She estimates she spent between Sh15,000 and Sh 20,000 trying to track the perpetrators, with further expenses incurred in attempts to pursue the matter.

The experience has also changed a woman who once approached people online with an open heart. Today, Nancy avoids video calls, “I don't do video calls at all. It instilled a lot of fear in me.” she reveals.

Yet perhaps the most striking part of her story is what the scammers failed to take from her: her voice.

Nancy continues to speak about her work, her ambitions and her experiences online.She says women, particularly those in public life and politics, should not be forced into silence because perpetrators weaponized their personal lives.

“You can't shame the shameless. If they want to shame you, shame yourself first,"she advises.

For Nancy, an innocent video call can become a trap,a face can be manipulated and a reputation can be targeted.But, she says, fear should not have the final word.

As an aspiring leader in Nakuru she says,allow us to be, addressing those who use online abuse to intimidate women. Stop intimidating women and stop using our weaknesses to pull us down.

wanjirukinuthia20@gmail.com

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