Part 1: The OpEd

Revenge Porn: A Form of Gender Violence

The life of Chrissy Chambers, a famous YouTube musician, has been destroyed due to the existence of revenge porn that her partner posted after their breakup (BBC, 2018). She developed alcoholism and serious mental health issues such as depression, anxiety and night terrors. The distribution of non-consensual videos or images of an individual by generally their ex-partners to cause them embarrassment is called revenge porn. The helplines related to revenge porn have revealed that women have 28 times more revenge porn shared than men (SaferInternet, 2024). It indicates that revenge porn causes gender-based harm in which women are the most painful of victims. This report focuses on revenge porn and legal as well as societal changes that are necessary for it.

According to research conducted by the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, 90% of the revenge porn victims are women (Cybercivilrights, 2024). It indicates that partners of women use this method of revenge to humiliate them and cause them shame in front of society. They are shamed because of their sexuality and choice of partners as well. It is a method of perpetrators finding some resemblance of control over the life of the women. The partners who are generally controlling and abusive in some ways cannot fathom the concept of their partners living a happy life away from them (Tullio et al. 2021). It causes them to lash out in this manner and control the lives of their partners even after they are no longer in their lives.

Distributing images in digital space without the consent of their partner causes anxiety for victims as their control over their bodies and autonomy of choice is being taken away from them (Zauner, 2021). Spreading the images or videos on digital space indicates that hundreds of strangers watch their private body parts, which causes mental distress for the victims. Their reputation also suffers in their family and neighbourhood circle, which leads to tension for the family members as well (Gilden, 2023). They are shamed publicly through digital platforms as content posted on online media can stay there for a longer period of time.

In terms of legal consequences, most of the time, the lawyers of the victims have to prove that the distribution of the revenge porn was done with malicious intent to convict the perpetrators. It leads most of the abusers not to face any repercussions if their lawyer can prove that there was no malicious intent. Only 4% of the reported cases get a positive conviction, which is in favour of the victims (TheGuardian, 2023). Almost 1160 cases were reported in 2015 in England and Wales; however, no action was taken in 61% of them (Ellison, 2018). This lack of punishment causes further emotional distress for the victims and their family members. The societal gaps in addressing this issue can be displayed in the treatment of the victims (Keenan & Zinsstag, 2022). Society needs to be more empathetic to the victims, but they follow a trend of victim blaming while dealing with the victim.

One of the most notable examples of revenge porn was the case of Georgia Harrison. Her ex uploaded their private video on Onlyfans, which spread through the internet and caused emotional as well as reputational damage to the victim in 2020 (TheGuardian, 2024). The victim won the case at last; however, the lengthy legal process left emotional damage to the victim. At the same time, she struggled to remain anonymous during the court case, which revealed her identity.

The legal framework related to revenge porn needs to remove the proving intent part to ensure that abusers cannot escape from getting convicted. It would teach the abusers that sharing non-consensual content, no matter the intent, has consequences. The name of the framework could be the Digital Consent and Privacy Act (DCPA). For example, in Australia, it is illegal to share or threaten to share images or videos of an individual without their consent, no matter the intent (Homeaffairs, 2022). The law has been quite effective in reducing the number of revenge porn crimes in the country. It would help reduce the number of revenge porn cases, which causes gender-based violence all over the world (Addadzi-Koom, 2021).

Developing public awareness campaigns are crucial for changing the societal attitudes towards revenge porn victims. The campaigns need to focus on removing the stigma of these cases (Rackley et al. 2021). The highlight of the campaign should be bringing out the narrative that victims do not have any accountability for the events. It would help reduce the emotional distress of the victims, and keeping a united front would display solidarity with them (Spade, 2020). It would prove that abusers would face societal repercussions along with legal ones to ensure that these incidents do not repeat again. A specialised committee will be set up that will evaluate these cases along with a toll-free number for the victim.
It is necessary to address revenge porn as a form of gendered violence to signify the important nature of the crime as it threatens the safety of the women and their well fare. The development of public campaigns, legal changes and societal changes is essential to create a safe digital space for women.

Part 2: Supporting Scholarly Evidence

1. Introduction

Revenge porn can be considered as a gendered crime due to its highly disproportionate number of female victims compared to males. It is reported that three in every four victims of revenge porn are females, which undermines the very sense of gender equality (Serpe & Brown, 2022). With technology getting integrated into daily life, the relevance of revenge porn is more likely to be a bigger issue in the near future. It is also identified that apart from gender inequality, unequal power dynamics are also evident in the case of revenge porn, where the less privileged ones are more vulnerable to the privileged section in terms of being affected by revenge porn. It is seen in most cases where the more privileged society victimises less privileged ones, and social impacts are also high in the case of marginalised secession (Mckinlay & Lavis, 2020). With the upper society section getting better access to power, authority and technology, the trend of victimising the marginalised section is high. It is highly probable that it will be higher in the future (Mckinlay & Lavis, 2020). This paper will discuss this phenomenon from the context of women's rights and digital justice, considering the entire concept of equality is getting diluted here.

2. Main Body

Theme 1: Gendered Nature of Revenge Porn

It is reported that more than 70% of the help seekers due to revenge porn are female, and 9 out of 10 females reported to suffer intimate abuse (Swgfl, 2019). It is also reported that in major cases, the perpetrators are male, while female perpetrators are also evident. This proves that revenge porn is not just a misogynist approach but also it is a case of gross abuse and the tendency to undermine one's social position (Davis Kempton, 2020). However, in the developing and under-developed regions with higher social stigma, the basic patriarchal male behaviour is identified as the major reason behind revenge porn. From prehistoric times, females were considered inferior to males, and social development was done by considering females accordingly (Ging, 2023).

Figure 1: Crime data against women
(Source: UNwomen, 2021)

Data shown in Figure 1 denotes the increasing domestic abuse against women, where 40% is denoted as sexual abuse (UNwomen, 2021). This trend is very proportional to the increasing trend of revenge porn, and it ultimately denotes that revenge porn is increasingly getting considered as a tool of women's abuse (UNwomen, 2021). The relationship between social patriarchy and women's abuse and rights is also proved; it is a similar case of males superiority complex over females, which contributes to the increasing trend of revenge porn.

Theme 2: Legal Challenges and Deficiencies

There are a few major legal challenges and barriers evident in the prosecution of revenge porn cases. One of the major challenges is the lack of knowledge to the victim about how to proceed further and where to get assistance. There is no awareness drive evident in any part of the globe regarding countering revenge porn and what legal assistance is available for the same (Mania, 2020). Thus, it becomes difficult for the victim to look for assistance considering their mental state, and ultimately, she chooses not to take any action. This is the major reason why maximum cases of revenge porn go unnoticed. Moreover, the legal system is inconsistent and not enough to deal with revenge porn. For instance, revenge porn is considered a minor and non-indictable crime in the US, which undermines its severity (Mura et al. 2024). With such a relaxed legal position and lack of legal literacy and adding the social stigma associated with this crime, it is very likely that there will be no proper prosecution of revenge porn cases. There is a legal framework stated by the International Human Right Society under the United Nations stating the stages of revenge porn and legal actions to be taken (Shany, 2023). However, the lack of legal awareness, majorly from the marginalised regions and the lack of a stringent national legal framework, is conveying the legal inability to address this crime.

Theme 3: Psychological and Social Impacts on Victims

There are long psychological and social impacts of revenge porn on the victims to the extent of committing suicide. It is identified that revenge porn takes a direct toll on the mental health of victims, majorly due to the social taboo associated with it. In several underdeveloped regions, victims, mostly women, are shamed and isolated in society and victims are only demonised here (De Angeli et al. 2021). This again proves the social state of women is always at the receiving end, and it is perceived that the victim herself is responsible for letting this crime happen. This not only creates social pressure on the victims but also hinders others to not publicising the crime. As per the data, 51% of female probable suicide cases are associated with sexual abuse, which confirms the severity and mental state of the victims (Ankel, 2018). It is also reported that mental health is severely affected due to non-consensual image distribution, and quite disproportionately, this victimisation is targeted mainly towards women. This refers to the fact that the social stigma associated with women's abuse is far higher compared to the abuse committed against men (Gmez?Guadix et al. 2022). Hence, it can be concluded that revenge porn is psychologically and socially taking a toll on the mental health of victims.

Theme 4: Intersectionality in Revenge Porn

It is reported that the issue of revenge porn is higher for marginalised communities, including LGBTQ and other racial minorities (Gilden, 2023). In mainstream society, these marginalised communities are socially excluded at large and other than sexual abuse, other abuses and harassment are getting normalised (De Angeli et al. 2021). Compared to the general women groups, marginalised groups have access to less assistance and considering the general negatively towards them in society, they are prone to such abuses and vulnerable to revenge porn (Gilden, 2023). On the other hand, concepts such as White Feminism play their part in diluting the overall women's struggle for equality and contradict the very fact of intersectional feminism. With white feminism, racially superior groups have access to all kinds of assistance, leaving other groups prone to abuses (Moon & Holling, 2020). This is again related to the concept of power dynamics, where socially superior sections like white people from Western countries and majoritarian fundamentalists from the Asian regions fundamentally create the notion against the inferior groups (Mckinlay & Lavis, 2020). This proves that even with much awareness drives regarding women's justice and equality, the entire struggle is still fragile, with several intersectionality evident and making the marginalised groups a sitting duck against the risk of revenge porn.

Theme 5: Potential Interventions and Solutions

It is proposed that legal literacy and social awareness regarding revenge porn is to be promoted. Education should be made mandatory for both genders regarding the importance of respecting consent and why nonconsensual activities are crimes. Moreover, women need to have an understanding of why it is a risk to share intimate content with others (Mania, 2020). They should be made aware that sharing intimate content online is the very first step towards inviting revenge porn. On the other hand, social upliftment is important, and without social support, this issue cannot be addressed. Authorities should initiate a collective effort to create social awareness and address social stigma and taboo. Lastly, it is the legal framework that should be stringent and effective enough dealing with revenge porn. For instance, Penal Code Section 647(J)(4) is California's anti-revenge porn law, which states penalties and 6 months imprisonment for the first offence and increases with repeated offences (Magaldi et al. 2020). Hence, the authorities all across the globe need to come together and address this menace and this effort should be social, legal, educational and individual contributions.

3. Conclusion

It is concluded that rather than considering revenge porn as a separate crime, it is important to consider it as a gendered crime and, more specifically, as women abuse case. As per the data analysed, the majority of the revenge porn cases are committed against women and are a grave injustice to the concept of equality. Thus, it is much important to consider revenge porn a severe sexual abuse case, and actions need to be taken accordingly. Moreover, this paper has also concluded that there is still work to do to create a safe environment for the victims, and social stigma needs to be removed. It is identified that due to social pressures, the majority of the cases are not getting prosecuted. In this case, it is the collective effort of the authorities, society and individuals to come together and work collectively to address this crime.

Part 3: Reflective Piece

1. Reflect on the OpEd writing process

Public writing is generally not in the formal tone as academic writing (Zou & Hyland, 2020). Hence, it was difficult for me to switch from academic writing to public writing significantly. It was also challenging for me to balance conciseness with depth in writing for a complex topic such as revenge porn. I had to keep in mind that my writing had to attract the attention of the reader along with conveying the seriousness of the topic.

2. Reflection on learning

Through conducting meticulous research on the topic of revenge porn and gender-based violence, I came to know that abusers use this as a means of control over the lives of the victims. As displayed by Cybercivilrights (2024), almost 90% of the revenge porn victims are women making it a gender-based violence. This topic has helped me understand gender crimes and the ways digital platforms heighten crimes effectively. I have been able to understand the pattern of victim blaming and the mental health issues victims face through conducting research on this topic.

3. Conclusion

I would be more vocal about gender-based crimes and try to participate in such campaigns to showcase my solidarity with victims. Simultaneously, this assignment has helped me learn about public writing, which has assisted in my growth as a student.

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