Victims struggle to seek help even after Hong Kong’s new law against voyeurism
HKFP
Victims struggle to seek help even after Hong Kong’s new law against voyeurism
RainLily, Hong Kong's first sexual assault crisis centre, received around 200 reports of voyeurism and related offences this year. Half of the victims said they had never sought help from others or even mentioned their experiences to others.
V is still mentally scarred after filming an intimate video a year ago which he now wishes had never existed. It's a painful secret he has tried to hide from everyone – especially the man who is now his boyfriend.
V, who asked for anonymity, still lives in the bedroom where he agreed to record the sexual video with his then-partner. They shared clips with a handful of gay friends in a private chat group. He never envisaged that it would become a weapon for his boyfriend to wield to try to stop V from breaking up with him.
"He sent some screenshots of the video, with a sticker covering our faces, to a public chat group threatening me not to leave him. Otherwise he would publish the full video, uncovering my identity," V, 31, told HKFP. He had not come out at the time, and publishing the clip would reveal not just his body but his sexuality for those unaware of it.
Battered by the blackmail bid, and fearful of telling his family, friends and even the police about his sexual orientation, V went back to his then-boyfriend.
"If you asked me to go to the police, it would devastate me emotionally," he said. Nor did he turn to counsellors. Societal stigma against the gay community, which can also foster victim-blaming attitudes, stopped V from seeking help.
A month later his then-boyfriend found a new partner and, to his great relief, dumped V. But the source of his anxiety remains.
"It feels like a ticking time bomb that might go off at any time. I hope he has deleted the video. I don't even dare to ask about the video as I am afraid that it might trigger his emotions," he said.
Pictures and videos taken in the heat of passion now trigger despair. "I didn't expect he would betray me. It really ripped my heart out," said V.