Kito is a slang term used in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

to refer to the act of extorting money or other valuables from gay men by threatening to expose or out them to their families, friends, or community. It is a form of

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, m ...

violence that is often used to control and intimidate

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

men.

History

The term kito is thought to have originated in the

Hausa language Hausa (; /; Ajami: ) is a Chadic language spoken by the Hausa people in the northern half of Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin and Togo, and the southern half of Niger, Chad and Sudan, with significant minorities in Ivory Coast. Hausa is a member ...

of northern Nigeria. It is believed to be a

contraction Contraction may refer to: Linguistics * Contraction (grammar), a shortened word * Poetic contraction, omission of letters for poetic reasons * Elision, omission of sounds ** Syncope (phonology), omission of sounds in a word * Synalepha, merged ...

of the words "ka sha kunya" which means "you should be a

shame Shame is an unpleasant self-conscious emotion often associated with negative self-evaluation; motivation to quit; and feelings of pain, exposure, distrust, powerlessness, and worthlessness. Definition Shame is a discrete, basic emotion, d ...

d." In 2014, the Same-Sex Marriage Prohibition Act was passed, which criminalizes same-sex marriage and other forms of same-sex intimacy. However, this law has been criticized for being discriminatory and for exposing gay people to violence. In a 2018 survey by the

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

, 73% of gay men in Nigeria said they had been threatened with kito. 31% said they had actually been extorted money or other valuables.

Effects

Kito is often carried out by gangs of young men. The gangs will often target gay men in public places, such as parks or bars. They may follow the victim and then confront them, threatening to expose them if they do not pay up. Kito can have a devastating impact on the victims. It can lead to depression,

anxiety Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil and includes feelings of dread over anticipated events. Anxiety is different than fear in that the former is defined as the anticipation of a future threat wh ...

, and

post-traumatic stress disorder Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats on ...

. It can also make it difficult for victims to come out to their families and friends, or to access essential services such as healthcare. In 2018, the Nigerian police launched a campaign against kito. The campaign included public awareness raising and training for police officers on how to handle cases of kito.

References

{{reflist Anti-LGBT sentiment in Africa Blackmail Kidnapping in Nigeria LGBT and society LGBT rights in Nigeria LGBT slang LGBT terminology Nigerian English Organized crime in Nigeria Violence against gay men Violence against LGBT people in Africa Violence against men in Africa