A Conversation on Digital Safety, Blackmail, and Community Protection for Queer Professionals
What This Event Is
This is a conversation with someone who built a solution after surviving the problem.
Q-Guard's founder will walk us through:
What online blackmail and kito-style targeting actually look like (and how to spot them early)
How Q-Guard was built from lived experience
What you can do right now to protect yourself digitally and physically
How communities can share warnings and document harm without exposing victims
What it looks like when we decide to look out for each other
Hosted by Jeremiah Ajayi (EmpowerQ), this is a conversation about what happens when a community stops waiting for protection and starts building it ourselves.
What You'll Walk Away With
After 90 minutes, you'll have:
✅ Clarity on the risks queer professionals face online and offline
✅ Hands-on familiarity with Q-Guard (how it works, who it protects, how to use it)
✅ Practical steps you can take immediately to protect yourself
✅ A sense of community and shared responsibility
✅ Proof that protection is possible and you're not navigating this alone
Who Should Be Here
This event is for you if:
You're a queer professional navigating safety, digital risk, and career visibility
You're tired of figuring out protection alone
You've ever worried about being outed, blackmailed, or targeted
You're a community organizer, peer support lead, or advocate
You work in NGOs, journalism, or civil society and need to understand these risks
You're an ally who wants to actually be useful
This event is NOT for:
People looking for surface-level "be safe online" advice
Academics treating queer safety as a research subject without skin in the game
Anyone not willing to treat this community's safety with care
What We'll Cover
Session 1: The Threat Landscape
What blackmail, kito, and digital targeting look like and how to recognize them before it's too late.
Session 2: Q-Guard Deep Dive
How the platform works, why it was built this way, and a live demo. Founder Q&A included.
Session 3: Your Safety Toolkit
Interactive session: practical steps you can take today. No fluff, just what works.
Closing: Community Commitments
What we're taking with us. What we're building together.
About the Speakers
Q-Guard Founder
Founded Q-Guard in 2022 after a personal blackmail incident. Turned one person's trauma into a community-powered platform that's now protecting queer people across hostile contexts.
Jeremiah Ajayi (EmpowerQ)
Co-Founder & Executive Director of EmpowerQ, Nigeria's first professional empowerment organization for LGBTQ+ communities.
Register Now
This event is free, but space is intentionally limited to maintain safety and quality of conversation.
After you register:
You'll receive the Twitter Space link 24 hours before the event
You'll get access to the recording afterward
You'll be added to our community updates (you can opt out anytime)
About the Organizations
EmpowerQ
Nigeria's first professional empowerment organization for LGBTQ+ communities. We build the economic infrastructure this community has never had—research, tools, and pathways to safe employment.
Q-Guard
A community-powered safety platform built from lived experience. We interrupt cycles of harm by replacing silence with shared awareness, giving communities the tools to document patterns, share warnings, and protect one another responsibly.
Questions?
Reach out to [email protected]
A Note on Safety
This conversation will cover sensitive topics including blackmail, targeting, and violence against queer people. We will handle these topics with care, but please take care of yourself. If you need to step away at any point, do so. Your safety—emotional and otherwise—matters.