Nonconsensual pornography (NCP), otherwise known as revenge porn, is the shamefully invasive act of sharing explicitly sexual photos or videos of someone without that person's consent. It is a way of depriving someone of their bodily autonomy in an attempt to humiliate, harm, and even control them. Sometimes victims aren't even aware they're been victimized until irreparable harm has already been done. No matter how these photos and videos are obtained, it should be a crime to spread them against their subject's wishes. But in four states in the U.S. -- Massachusetts, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Wyoming -- there are no laws in place to protect anyone who is attacked in this way. Plus, in the 46 states and Washington D.C. where there are revenge porn laws, the classification of the crime, the punishment, and the reparations to victims are painfully inconsistent and often lacking.
Sign the petition if you want to see comprehensive federal legislation making revenge porn illegal!
According to the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, revenge porn "transforms unwilling individuals into sexual entertainment for strangers." The nature of the internet is such that once revenge porn has been uploaded, it can spread like wildfire, making its way to the social media pages of friends and family, the emails of coworkers, or the search engine results of the victim's name. It can destroy relationships, implode opportunities in their career or education, and lead to even more harassment and abuse. It is so bad that in the U.S. alone, 51% of revenge porn victims contemplated suicide.
Of all social media users in the U.S., about 1 in 8 have been victims of revenge porn.
The pictures and videos used in revenge porn can be obtained in many ways. They can be relics of a past consensual relationship, obtained nonconsensually during a sexual assault, at a moment when the victim isn't privy to their image being taken, or given willfully by the victim who is unaware what the images or video will be used for. No matter how revenge porn media is acquired, the result is the same: images or videos are shared without the consent of the victim. There is no scenario in which a victim deserves to have their privacy violated so violently.
The Cyber Civil Rights Initiative puts it best. "Private sexual information deserves no less protection than private financial or health information."
We have laws protecting our credit card numbers. We have protections to shield our private health information from the public. It's time that these protections extend to our private, most intimate images, no matter what the scenario in which they were produced.
Sign the petition and demand that Congress introduce a federal law against revenge porn today!
