Revenge Porn/Nonconsensual Pornography
Non-consensual pornography (the most common form of which is known as ‘revenge porn’) involves the online distribution of sexually graphic photographs or videos without the consent of the individual in the images. The perpetrator is often an ex-partner who obtains images or videos in the course of a prior relationship, and aims to publicly shame and humiliate the victim, in retaliation for ending a relationship. However, perpetrators are not necessarily partners or ex-partners and the motive is not always revenge.
Images can also be obtained by hacking into the victim’s computer, social media accounts or phone, and can aim to inflict real damage on the target’s ‘real-world’ life (for example, intending to cause a person to be fired from their job, or in some cases causing suicide).
What Is “Nonconsensual Pornography”?
“Nonconsensual pornography” is when a sexually graphic image/video of you is shared without your consent. It’s also commonly called “revenge porn.”
These images/video can include:
Images taken during the course of an intimate relationship (including images you took of yourself and shared with the intent to keep them private)
Hidden recordings
Images stolen from electronic devices (phones, computers, tablets, etc.)
Recordings of sexual assaults
Is It Illegal?
Yes. Sharing or publicizing intimate images without your consent is against both civil and criminal law
NOTE: If sexually explicit images/video of you are shared or publicized without your consent, it is a crime, even if you were the one who took the picture or video.
Most of the times
The image/video was obtained under circumstances in which a reasonable person would know or understand that the image was to remain private;
The person knows or should have known that you did not consent to the disclosure.
The person knows or reasonably should know that disclosure would harm you.
This person could also be violating civil laws related to invasion of privacy, economic harm, etc.
How Do I Get the Images/videos off the Internet?
Most internet platforms (social media, search engines, etc.) do not allow sexually explicit images to be posted. Contact the platforms where the images have been posted and report the images for violating the terms of service. Before contacting the companies, take screen shots of all images as they appear on all platforms as evidence for your legal case.
Key Facts and victim’s social effects
An estimated one in eight people 18 years or older in the United States has experienced sexually explicit image-based abuse, also known as non-consensual pornography. While most research on this subject has focused on the legal and mental health impacts of these actions, a new School of Public Health study examines the devastating social impacts on victims of this growing form of online abuse.
Julia Campbell (SPH’19), an SPH alum and research coordinator in the Department of Community Health Sciences, is the lead and corresponding author of a first-of-its-kind study that explores how the distribution of sexually explicit images without a person’s consent can produce or worsen feelings of social anxiety and social isolation among the survivors, as well as damage their social relationships.
Published in the Journal of Interpersonal Violence, the study assessed the experiences of 17 survivors of sexually explicit, image-based abuse, including the health consequences they experienced, how they responded to the incident, and the outcomes they wished to see after their experience.
The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore consequences of the non-consensual dissemination of sexually explicit media (NCDSEM) for survivors, with an emphasis on how NCDSEM may impact social relationships and social anxiety. There were five main ways in which participants described consequences of NCDSEM: (a) fear of going out in public, (b) fear of engaging in relationships, (c) fear of applying to jobs, (d) fear of seeking help, and (e) influencing depression and feelings of anxiety. These findings suggest that, for some people, NCDSEM victimization may influence whether and how they subsequently socialize with other people.
The five main consequences the participants shared include fears of going out in public, engaging in relationships, applying to jobs, and seeking help, as well as an increase in depression and anxiety. Almost half described the abuser as a former dating partner, while 18 percent described the abuser as a current dating partner, and 24 percent described the abuser as a friend or acquaintance.
Non-consensual pornography is a relatively new phenomenon, and one that is increasing in today’s digital age.
“There really wasn’t a movement or language to describe these situations even 15 or 20 years ago,” Campbell says. “But these experiences can really devastate people’s lives. People liken it to the experience of being publicly raped.”
Victim-blaming is also common and psychologically harmful, she says. “Some people will say, ‘well, you shouldn’t have sent the picture in the first place,’ and that can just crush people, and make them not want to leave their homes at all. People don’t understand the shame and embarrassment it can bring upon victims.”
Almost all of the study participants described problems with romantic and platonic relationships after explicit photos of them were shared, and others reported a fear of appearing in public at all, worrying that “everyone” had viewed their sexually explicit photos.
The study also revealed that image-based abuse can cause severe financial consequences; many survivors reported losing their job, or difficulty applying for new jobs, after employers were able to search their names online and view the compromising images.
Campbell recalls one female participant who became homeless after her abusive partner repeatedly spread explicit photos of her on the Internet without her consent.
“This woman ran an online business, which was her livelihood, and she lost her job after people saw the photos that would pop up in Google searches of the business,” says Campbell. “She was unsafe and had to move across the country, and she couldn’t find a new job.” She notes that this particular experience is an extreme example of image-based abuse, but “the takeaway point is that this can really ruin people’s lives. It’s a really big deal and it needs to be taken seriously.”
Campbell says the study findings show more research is needed to understand the impacts of image-based abuse on specific populations, including people of color, the LGBTQ community, and high school and college-aged students. Educating adolescents and young adults on the consequences of sharing non-consensual explicit photos is critical, as their age groups engage frequently in online dating and experience high rates of cyber bullying and online dating abuse. In the tightknit social networks that define the typical college experience, explicit photos can spread rapidly and create instant distress and humiliation for the victim.
“But we’re also not saying that people should never share these types of photos with someone they trust,” says Campbell. “Sharing these images can be part of a healthy relationship that is built around trust. But when the line is crossed between consensual and non-consensual photos, it becomes a problem, just like it would with any other sexual encounter.” You can read more about in Boston University School of Public Health.
An alarming 3 in 5 Australians have experienced digital harassment and 1 in 10 had a nude image of them distributed without their consent.
“Revenge porn” term
As La Trobe (University Australia) Senior Lecturer Dr Nicola Henry claims:
Revenge porn it is a problematic term because, firstly, it implies that the motivations for distribution are exclusively about revenge, yet perpetrators of ‘image-based sexual abuse’ (the term we prefer) may have diverse motivations beyond that of revenge.
For instance, some people may share images to blackmail or coerce a victim (as in the case of domestic violence) or for trade, for purchasing, for sexual gratification or to impress their mates with ‘look how hot my girlfriend is’.
Of course, there are many instances where revenge is in fact the motivation, but the point is that it is not the only motivation for the distribution of images without consent.
Secondly, ‘pornography’ implies somewhat that the victim was complicit in producing the pornographic images. Also, many images might not be pornographic at all, or may not serve the purposes of pornography.
You might recall the Lara Bingle shower image some years ago that was taken non-consensually by her then lover, ex-AFL player Brendan Fevola, before then being circulated among sports teams and the media. That image wasn’t actually pornographic, but it was a nude image distributed without consent that did cause significant harms.
Thirdly, many people understand ‘revenge pornography’ as being exclusively about the distribution of images without consent, but we are also concerned with other behaviours, such as the creation of images without consent (e.g. the recording of sexual assaults or consensual sex acts), as well as threats to distribute intimate images, regardless of whether the images are actually distributed, or regardless of whether the images actually exist in the first place.
So ‘image-based sexual abuse’ is a much better term for capturing an array of perpetrator motivations, victim harms, image content, and different behaviours where images are being used in some way to cause harm – and regardless of whether or not the perpetrator intended to cause harm or distress.
More forms of cybersexual violence.
Cybersexual violence can take many forms.
The following are just a few examples:
Cyber-harassment and cyber-stalking: monitoring or disruption online communications, making threats, stealing personal information or spreading false accusations
Distributing sexual recordings, images or messages without consent in order to harass or shame the targeted individual
Luring and online exploitation of minors by adults who establish contact with children over the Internet for the purpose of committing a sexual offence
Online sexual assault: constant threats of sexual assault
Sextorsion: “sexual blackmail” in which a person is threatened with the electronic distribution of sexual images or information
The terms ‘revenge pornography’ and ‘revenge porn’ are misleading
because they imply that a desire for revenge is what unites perpetrators and motivates the
dissemination of intimate material. This is not necessarily the case. Much of this content is
shared by spurned ex-spouses or partners, but hackers, and those who secretly
record/photograph others without their knowledge or consent, and even images originally
obtained without consent through the use of hidden cameras, phone or computer hacking, or
even recording sexual assaults can all be forms of revenge pornography. Additionally, images
that are shared with or taken by a lover within the context of an intimate relationship – if
shared with others outside of the relationship without the consent of the pictured partner may
be revenge pornography. Giving one person permission to view your body does not mean that
you implicitly give all persons that same permission.
Revenge Pornography Causes Real and Significant Harm to it Victims
Revenge pornography isn’t simply an ‘irritation’ or an ‘embarrassment’ for its victims. Rather, this form of sexual abuse causes real, quantifiable harm.
Both genders can be victims of revenge pornography.
