Gay students from countries that criminalise homosexuality extorted with ‘outing’ threats

A hate crime inquiry has heard that international students from countries which criminalise homosexuality have been targeted on gay dating apps before being assaulted and threatened with being outed.

Police in Victoria, Australia have identified 95 attacks on gay or bisexual men since June 2024. Chad Hughes, Thorne Harbour Health’s chief executive said 42 arrests have been made in relation to the attacks.

However, Hughes said he believes the “true number” is much higher, with victims reluctant to come forward over mistrust of the police.

Jenna Tuke, from Switchboard Victoria, said some victims were scared they could be outed to family members in their home countries, and were extorted.

Tuke said: “We’ve heard a lot of stories of people who’ve been … contacted after the offence and asked to deposit tens of thousands of dollars in an account ‘otherwise, this video will be shared with everyone in your contacts.’

“We’ve certainly seen a pattern of overseas students being targeted in countries where … homosexuality is illegal.”

Tuke added that the “family implications for those people are absolutely massive”, as per The Guardian.

According to Tuke, one person who called Switchboard Victoria said they had until 10pm to give the blackmailer money, before the blackmailer said they’d tell the victim’s family about their sexuality.

She added: “We’re hearing those types of stories quite frequently.

“It does appear that they may be targeting people who they think are not ‘out’, and for whom the kind of consequences of being outed as gay or queer will be greater.”

While the cases differ, they share similar details. Victims were invited to meet in a public place, but were then physically attacked, filmed, and in a number of incidents, extorted.

‘It was just pure hatred’

At a recent community meeting, Hughes said 12 men shared they’d been victims of similar attacks, but just two reported them to the police. One of those “regretted that”.

He said: “The attacks are deliberate and humiliating. The victims are forced to recite slurs on camera and footage is shared online to give the perpetrators status with their target audiences: others in the manosphere.”

Some of the attackers are reportedly as young as 13, with victims specifically targeted due to their perceived sexuality.

One witness said at the inquiry that he had been speaking to someone on an app for around a month before agreeing to meet in public in August 2024. He was then attacked by two teenagers.

He said: “They turned up to a park with a knife bigger than any of you have in your kitchen and held it to me … it was just pure hatred.”

The man said he felt there hadn’t been “any justice” as one teen was found guilty without recording a conviction, and the other was never charged. He said they were only arrested because there had been three other attacks “on the same street in broad daylight once again”.

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