The rise of nude selfies in learning institutions

For an institution that prides itself in keeping its students on a morally straight path, the leaked nudity photos of three of its female students in 2008 was the last thing the university overlooking Lake Victoria needed.

Not only did these photos leak, they still went viral, a few months before the students in question graduated.

Five years on, it has never been easy for *Phoebe Emilian, one of the students in the leaked photos to walk on the streets without putting on her dark shades and donning a burqa to conceal her identity. As much as she tries doing that, she still has not been able to evade the attention of people who once saw her naked body on social networks five years ago, when she was writing her research at the campus.

“Whenever I meet my former college mates, the first question they ask is what became of the photos we took at campus,” she says.

This is an embarrassing question that the 30-year-old comes across not only from people she schooled with, but also her workmates, compelling her to move from one office to the other.

After some ‘selfies’ with two of her classmates inside their dormitory, Phoebe saved the photos on her laptop. Little did she know that her machine would one day develop some complications, forcing her to take it for repair somewhere in Mwanza town.

A week later, she was shocked to see the photos being circulated on people’s phones within the campus, and later she saw them on some of the tabloids.

“I wish I had never taken the computer to be repaired if I knew they would ever be leaked,” she says with regrets.

Pressed on why she ever posed for such photos, Phoebe says they only did it out of fun, and they had not intended to show them to anyone.

Phoebe, who graduated with a degree in Mass Communication, admits that the photos still haunt her, and whenever she types her name on any search engine, results are nothing but images of her nude photos.

She has also been a subject to name calling, whereas some of her college mates have occasionally been making fun of her, forcing her to change her phone twice.

In 2010, Phoebe filed a case and later issued a demand note against a local tabloid, where she demanded to be compensated Sh 200million.

Leaked photos

In a July 5, 2010 unsigned demand, Phoebe alleges the popular tabloid embarrassed her by publishing the leaked photos.

Some of the photos that appear in the tabloid published in April 2010, show Phoebe and her two colleagues posing in compromising gestures, inside their dormitories, without their clothes on.

It still remains unseen if Phoebe will ever be compensated. In the recent past, cases of female students either posting nude photos or posting those that depict them in compromising situations have taken the social networks by storm.

Some of the students have come in the open to deny their involvement in uploading such images, claiming that some hackers were behind the uncouth practice.

Mr Karimu Dickson Meshack, a senior Public Relations Officer with St John’s University of Tanzania (SJUT) in Dodoma says such cases have tarnished the images and reputations of some institutions.

However, Mr Meshack is of the opinion that any sane student will never reach the extreme of photographing themself and uploading such images on social networks.

The university’s image handler is convinced that such is the work of some individuals who conspire in running some students’ image on campuses, once they have crossed each other’s paths.

Alarming trend

“I don’t think any female student would ever do such a thing, probably this could be a conspiracy by either their boyfriends or foes while still on campus,” he says.

Nevertheless, the SJUT official admits that the trend of female students taking selfies that leave body parts exposed have become alarming, much to the dismay of some parents.

According to Mr Meshack, there have not been any such cases reported at his university.

When *Rebecca Mshana parted ways with her boyfriend while still in college, she did not know she would one day end up seeing her compromising photos circulating in the media.

Just like Phoebe, Rebecca says the boyfriend snapped her using his mobile phone when she was naked just for fun, where they would later sit down and admire them.

“I had never thought he still had them on his phone.”

Rebecca says their relationship had turned sour, compelling her to jilt him.

“He must have done that out of anger. He did not want me to ditch him,” she explains.

Even though Rebecca’s photos were not popular on social networks, she still regrets why she let her boyfriend take them.