Appropriate Revenge Porn Laws Must be Enforced to Adequately Protect Victims
Chrissy Chambers first came across sexually explicit videos of herself on in the internet in 2013. A stranger had posted on one of her YouTube videos with a link and the comment ‘She’s a slut. Check out these videos.’ The content in question had been procured by Chambers’ ex-boyfriend two years earlier when he had raped her while she was unconscious.
Chambers sought legal action in the United States, only to be told that they could not help her as the videos had been uploaded in the UK, and therefore fell under their laws concerning online harassment and distress. When she contacted police in the UK, she was told that there was nothing they could do as the crime had been committed in America.
Similar to issues of rape culture, consent, and victim blaming, revenge porn and the harm it causes young women and men has found itself at the centre of social discussion in recent years. Whether it’s the “sex crimes” committed against the likes of Jennifer Lawrence, Ariana Grande and Selena Gomez in 2014, the alleged existence of the UCD200, or the thousands of individuals who have had their trust breached by an ex-partner, we’re all aware that the non-consensual sharing of explicit images happens – and happens regularly.
Campaigns from Women’s Aid, various feminist groups, and numerous public figures have spoken out against revenge porn in an attempt to hold the perpetrators accountable for their actions. And while the gendered stigma of “You shouldn’t take nudes if you don’t want your photos leaked” is widely rejected by just about everybody who has given the issue more than half a second’s thought, appropriately protecting those who do become victims of revenge porn is still is a legal struggle in most countries.[pullquote]Similar to issues of rape culture, consent, and victim blaming, revenge porn and the harm it causes young women and men has found itself at the centre of social discussion in recent years.[/pullquote]
Since Chambers’ case began, the laws regarding the non-consensual sharing of explicit material have changed drastically in the UK – and in some states in the US – to adequately address the issue of revenge porn. Last year, legislation was passed in England and Wales that made it a criminal offense to share sexual photos of another person with the intention of causing distress.
The charges carry up to two years in prison, and cover all images shared either on or offline. 26 states have also amended their laws in recent years to include protection for revenge porn victims – although some of those laws only apply if the image itself was obtained without consent, so selfies don’t count.
However, as Chambers’ initial case began before the laws in the UK were put into effect, she was not covered by them. She, and countless others like her, did not see the immediate punishment of her ex’s actions as she was forced to file a suit under a different act which did not pertain directly to revenge porn. Similar cases have been reported here in Ireland where specific legislation does not yet exist. Victims must file their cases under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997, or Section 13 of the Post Office (Amendment) Act 1951, which covers offense or anxiety caused while using a telephone – a law that Jennifer Moloney of the new Children Protection and Human Exploitation Bureau last year deemed “a bit outdated for the internet.”[pullquote]While the gendered stigma of “You shouldn’t take nudes if you don’t want your photos leaked” is widely rejected by a lot of people, appropriately protecting those who do become victims of revenge porn is still is a legal struggle in most countries.[/pullquote]
Despite many countries’ lack of appropriate legislation on the issue, services do exist to aid people in deleting content from the internet should they find themselves victims of revenge porn. Leakserv, a company from The Netherlands, specialise in removing sexually explicit leaked content and protecting the privacy of their clients. Since 2015, the site has worked with over 100 revenge porn victims and has had more than 100,000 pieces of content successfully removed from the internet.
Once a user signs up to the service, the company uses tracking and monitoring services to determine the source and host of all leaked content. They then serve a take-down notice, and ensure that all access to the revenge porn is completely denied by search engines. The company has had a 99% success rate, and will usually have all relevant content tracked and removed in under 48 hours.
As well as providing this service, Leakserv are also interested in educating young people about the dangers of online sexual harassment. They have plans to set up training sessions in order to create more awareness about the issue, and to ensure that the distress revenge porn victims can be subjected to is not overlooked.
Getting to know these victims and to learn the problems they have because of revenge porn was enough to decide to startup a business that would provide the services to help them (…) We’re planning on going to schools with this in the near future and we also want to setup a cooperation with police departments in order to give victims of revenge porn the best help.
Last April, UK police sentenced their first revenge porn offender. Educating people about the mental and physical dangers of engaging with revenge porn is necessary to ensure that this culture of misogynistic shaming can one day be abandoned, but the existence of relevant legislation and privacy services are also paramount in providing victims with the help and support they need.
The months following the UK’s introduction of revenge porn laws saw 139 cases of alleged non-consensual shared content – with 10 victims being under the age of sexual consent. The true numbers are thought to be much higher, and are only expected to rise in the coming years. But at least, in the UK, the perpetrators of revenge porn can now be adequately punished for their crimes.
