Unless you have been living under a rock these past few months, you are probably aware of something called revenge porn. If somehow you are totally blanking on what it means, here is a refresher:

Revenge porn is the sharing of nude/explicit images of someone (usually by an ex-partner or ex-lover) without their consent. This is usually done to cause embarrassment or harm.

We can all agree that posting nude images of someone without their consent is a horrible thing to do, right? That being said, only thirty-eight states (and DC) have revenge porn laws which is low considering this is a crime that gets committed in all 50 states. Although I am relieved to see Pennsylvania on the list, not every state on the list has laws that make it very easy for victims of this cybercrime to get the justice they deserve. The laws range anywhere from a misdemeanor charge, harassment, or a class six felony (especially if the images are of a minor).

Although revenge porn might not be the most comfortable thing to talk about, it is an important issue to discuss because it is something that can happen to anyone.

Along the way, I have encountered some problematic viewpoints on the issue of revenge porn, including people who believe “this is why you shouldn’t send nudes.” This shaming attitude is a very dangerous one to have as it is a slippery slope to feeling this way about other sexual crimes.

I encountered a few instances of these attitudes in a revenge porn survey I created for one of my classes last semester. Several participants felt that posting nude photos of someone without their consent shouldn’t be a crime, despite them having sent or received nude images themselves.

As more people are educated on revenge porn, I hope that it will be taken as the serious crime it is and the stigma around it will dissolve. It is 2018, some people chose to share images of themselves with trusted people and that does not mean they deserve to have those images plastered all over the internet.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of revenge porn, go to https://www.cybercivilrights.org/victim-resources/. These resources include hotlines, detailed instructions on how to get photos taken down from the internet, and attorneys who specialize in this area of crime.

Want to learn more? Search @turningvictimsintoadvocates on Facebook and follow @theBADASS_army on twitter. These are both advocacy pages that, on top of all the other good work they do, helped me gather information for a research paper I wrote on revenge porn.