It takes just seconds to transmit information online. In the case of nonconsensual pornography, more colloquially known as “revenge porn,” sexually explicit images of an individual are distributed online, without consent, instantaneously. And in a flash, an individual’s most private moments are exposed and disseminated for the public to examine, comment on, and dissect.
Online posting of private images generally occurs in one of two circumstances. Recent events illustrate the first: the hack. A hacker breaks into someone’s private information and either the hacker or someone else then uploads compromising photographs or videos to public websites. Victims of a hack are not always as famous as Jennifer Lawrence, but the recent hack of celebrity photos has brought this to light in the past few weeks, during which a slew of female celebrities were unwillingly exposed in this manner.
The second route to online distribution is seemingly more vicious because it involves personal betrayal. It occurs when a relationship goes bad, and an individual who had been trusted with sexually explicit photographs distributes those images online without the consent of the pictured individual. Usually the perpetrator is a bitter ex-boyfriend or girlfriend, or a scorned ex-lover who takes what had been shared with them in secret and thrusts it into public view.
Either way, victims are exposed. They are not only publicly humiliated, but are often threatened, stalked, and tormented. Many have trouble finding work or keeping up with school; some even get fired from their current jobs or asked to leave their current schools. In some extreme cases, victims of nonconsensual pornography have been unable to cope with the severity of the online sexual abuse and harassment and have committed suicide.
The Cyber Civil Rights Legal Project was born when two attorneys at K&L Gates recognized an epidemic and realized they could help. David Bateman is an attorney with over 20 years of experience in Internet, technology, and intellectual property law. He is a nationally recognized leader in his field who has been lead counsel in hundreds of lawsuits against spammers, phishers, and other Internet offenders. Elisa D’Amico is a senior associate whose practice focuses, in part, on Internet marketing and general commercial disputes. She became heavily interested in the revenge porn epidemic earlier in 2014 and through her work with the Miami-Dade Chapter of the Florida Association for Women Lawyers, Professor Mary Anne Franks, and Cyber Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI), she recognized a need for a nationwide (and global) revenge porn pro bono project.
Naturally, Bateman and D’Amico put their heads together, and with the overwhelming support of K&L Gates, the Cyber Civil Rights Legal Project was born.
The Cyber Civil Rights Legal Project is a global resource for victims of revenge porn and its presence will change lives:
First, the Cyber Civil Rights Legal Project provides legal services to individuals who otherwise could not afford legal help or did not know where to obtain an attorney. This is a civil rights pro bono project that aims to rectify serious cyber civil rights violations. Because of its national and international presence, the project has the ability to touch the lives of countless victims without regard for their socio-economic status.
Second, K&L Gates has a prominent cybersecurity and cyberlaw practice, including experienced cyber forensic investigators, among other talented individuals. And the firm also has accomplished intellectual property attorneys as well as lawyers that specialize in other areas. Because all Cyber Civil Rights Legal Project attorneys are K&L Gates attorneys, each client will have access to all of the firm’s legal resources, including much-needed cyberforensics.
Third, the Cyber Civil Rights Legal Project founders are located on opposite sides of the United States (Seattle and Miami). But project attorneys are located throughout the United States and overseas. So, clients across the country (and across the globe) can benefit from the pro bono services the project has to offer. This is the first national and international pro bono project dedicated to helping victims of revenge porn.
The Cyber Civil Rights Legal Project is not seeking financial recovery for itself. It is not seeking glory or fame. It is just trying to help give victims a voice and to bring them justice.
Just take a step back and ask yourselves, isn’t it about time to end the revenge?
Visit http://www.cyberrightsproject.com/ for more information about the Cyber Civil Rights Legal Project including how to reach out to them for pro bono legal services.
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On August 31, a series of nude photos of female celebrities were released, after having been allegedly hacked from the iCloud accounts of those celebrities. The incident has been referred to as a “hack,” a “leak,” a “nude photo scandal.” We’d prefer to call it what it really is: a form of sexual abuse, a gross violation of privacy, a reprehensible way to victimize an innocent person, and just one of the many forms of nonconsensual pornography.
As noted on our FAQs page, nonconsensual pornography is defined as the distribution of sexually graphic images of individuals without their consent. This term is applicable to images voluntarily shared with an intimate partner (e.g., as in cases of “revenge porn”) as well as images obtained through hacking. It applies to recordings of forced sexual activity, including those of sex trafficking victims and rape victims, that are distributed. Cases can include situations where innocuous photos of one person are posted next to explicit images of someone who resembles them, or cases where someone’s head is photoshopped onto someone else’s nude body and the photos are distributed. When intimate images are disclosed without consent, they become nonconsensual porn.
Product of our Culture
Nonconsensual porn seems to be a product of a misogynistic culture that tells men they are entitled to women’s bodies and that women who deny men access should be punished. This view is supported by some of the tweets that one celebrity victim received on Monday: “You deserved this because a girl like you would never date me in real life, no matter how nice and courteous I was. Karma!” or “Sorry but it’s not fair that only the guys of your choosing get to see the photos while the ugly, less fortunate guys do not.”
For some readers, these quotes might bring back chilling memories of watching videos of, or reading portions of the memoir-manifesto by, the “Santa Barbara Killer” Elliot Rodger in which he described the motives behind his killing spree: “Women should not have the right to choose who to mate and breed with, that decision should be made for them by rational men of intelligence;” and “It’s not fair. You girls have never been attracted to me. I don’t know why you girls aren’t attracted to me, but I will punish you all for it.” This tragedy showed us that this way of thinking can have deadly consequences.
Victim Blaming
The most recent celebrity case of nonconsensual porn seems also to be a product of the public’s overinflated sense of entitlement to gain access to celebrities’ lives. The common refrain is “you put yourself out there in the public eye by virtue of being a celebrity, so we (the public) have a right to gain access to your private life, and you have no right to be upset about it.”
No matter what category of nonconsensual porn a case falls into—whether the material was obtained lawfully or unlawfully, whether it depicts a celebrity or a private individual—we continue to see the same victim-blaming that we see with all other forms of sexual abuse and assault.
Internet trolls hiding behind pseudonyms as well as public figures using their own names are telling victims that if they don’t want the material to be shared with the world, they shouldn’t have it in the first place. Take Ricky Gervais, for example, who tweeted “Celebrities, make it harder for hackers to get nude pics of you from your computer by not putting nude pics of yourself on your computer.” CCRI board member, Mary Anne Franks responded applying that logic to other crimes:
Make it harder for hackers to steal your credit card # by not owning a credit card #rickygervaislogic http://t.co/2mjLBjGlZW @EndRevengePorn
— Mary Anne Franks (@ma_franks) September 1, 2014
Patients, make it harder for hackers to steal your medical records by not going to the doctor #rickygervaislogic http://t.co/2mjLBjGlZW
— Mary Anne Franks (@ma_franks) September 1, 2014
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the age of the Internet: a space where you can not only cultivate friendships and farms as you do offline, but one where you can also be sexually assaulted, abused, and victim-blamed. Lena Dunham acknowledged this new form of victim-blaming in a tweet on Monday:
The “don’t take naked pics if you don’t want them online” argument is the “she was wearing a short skirt” of the web. Ugh.
— Lena Dunham (@lenadunham) September 1, 2014
It feels as though we’re repeating history in this new arena that was once promoted as the safe escape from the offline world full of discrimination, harassment, and abuse.
Different Approach
It is long past time to change our approach to sexual abuse. Instead of condemning and holding the victim responsible, we must shift the blame and punishment where it really belongs and can be most productive: onto the perpetrator. By blaming the victim, we are adding to the shame, despair, and anguish that a victim already feels, potentially driving them towards responses that could significantly damage or end their lives. We are making them feel more alienated and alone than they already feel in light of this violation. The perpetrator, on the other hand, runs free, unscathed and oftentimes more empowered, already lining up his next victim.
If we really want to solve this problem, shouldn’t we be shaming the perpetrator into inaction instead of the victim?
Private photos are private photos whether they’re consensually shared within the confines of an intimate relationship, captured on a phone and stored in iCloud, or snapped as polaroids and locked up in a fireproof safe bolted to the floor of a bulletproof room. Just because an individual consents to something in one context (such as sharing a nude photo with one person) does not mean that he/she consents to it in others (having the photo shared with the entire world via the Internet). By consenting to sex with one man, a woman isn’t consenting to have sex with all of his friends. Consent is limited to the context in which it is given.
Pain is pain, a victim is a victim, and they all deserve our support.
If you would like to support the End Revenge Porn campaign, sign the petition or become a donor to help fund advocacy and support for victims.
Voices of Victims is a series of anonymous submissions by victims of revenge porn. The post below has been lightly copy-edited but otherwise reads exactly as submitted. Remember: You are not alone.
Almost seven years ago, I left my abusive fiancé. He’d been taking explicit photos and videos of me, and sharing them without my permission already, using them as blackmail to force various sex acts from me that I was not comfortable with, while pretending to be a “hacker.” He was attending West Point at the time, and he said he could get expelled if they were revealed, so I did everything, despite my discomfort. Until one day I said no, and he raped me instead, claiming to not remember it after the fact.
But when I got up the courage and left, he released all of my photos and videos to porn sites and several classmates’ emails, despite the fact that I’d been under eighteen at the time of their taking (and below the age of consent in NY for some of them, at sixteen). As well as that, he released my phone number and address and email, pretending to be me, and I received phone calls and emails from strange men who wanted to visit me. I had to ask several websites to take down nude pictures of me, and received no response from many of them. And on top of everything else, he continued to contact me for years through his various girlfriends who claimed he wanted to repent. It’s been three years since he last contacted me, but I never know if he’ll do it again someday.
My pictures have been lost to the ether, and I cannot find them via search, but who knows if they’re still out there, and I never know if there are people in the world who think that I sent them photos while he was pretending to be me, who can track me down with my name and find me and my family like my ex has before. I’ve been humiliated; I’m scared to make contact online (which is important, as I’m an online-publishing author), I have relationship issues with my husband because of this. I still have nightmares about it. I’m still ashamed. I wish I could erase this from my past, and I wish there were a way to help others going through it. So if I can, I want to, and if that’s by speaking, then so be it.
If you’re a victim of revenge porn you can contact our victim advocates here.
Isn’t it amazing how one second can alter your life so much?
Well, that’s exactly how I felt on February 22, 2012 and every day after. That moment when you discover you’re nude all over the internet will definitely send a million emotions through your head, to say the least. The most common thoughts that ran through my head were “what if I never checked my email” or “what if I never dated him” or “what if I never hit send?” I’m sure many victims feel the same way. But then I took a step back and realized the only mistake I made was trusting such a disturbing individual.
I can remember that the moments leading up to that email, my biggest concern was studying for that exam that I never got the chance to take and a second later my biggest concern would become getting my pictures off of pornographic sites. In that moment I wanted to curl up and die, I didn’t care who I would be leaving behind on this earth, I was humiliated and felt so betrayed. Nobody could possibly understand how I felt. The tears poured down my face instantaneously. I kept thinking to myself “this can’t be real, this only happens in movies, how could someone I trusted so much do this to me?” I felt like someone had just stabbed me in the gut, sadly a feeling that I would feel all too familiar with later.
I wanted to go backwards in time, just to five minutes before and never open that email. I knew from that minute on that my life would never be the same. The pictures had been up for three months before they surfaced to my attention. Anything given that much time on the internet has the capability of going viral. In time, I realized that’s exactly what happened with my pictures. They started on one site and ended up on more than one hundred and continue to circulate. In that moment, I felt that my only option was to go to the police. I called my friend and she rushed over to be by my side. She supported me through everything and took me to the police station. The police were extremely helpful right away; they started writing down points and investigating into my case immediately. Their advice to me was to go home and call the sites that I had been notified about and see if they could take down the pictures.
I did just that. I was asked to email someone that worked for each site and send a picture of myself holding up a sign with my name on it. This was to verify that the pictures online were of me. Once the email was received, the pictures were removed within 24 hours. On March 18, 2012, I was down the shore at my best friends shore house when I received a phone call around 11AM from the police station. When I picked up the phone call it was a voice that I was not familiar with. It was an officer that I had not worked with previously on my case. He called to tell me that my ex was in custody and that they needed me to come down to the station to fill out some paper work. I literally said “okay, thank you” and hung up in shock. The idea of them catching my ex and him getting arrested was such a foreign thought.
Though I live in New Jersey, where it’s illegal to post nude photos of someone without their consent, I was told over and over again that this was such a gray area in law and that it’s extremely difficult to catch the perpetrator. So to get a phone call like that completely caught me off guard. The plan was to stay at the shore house until the evening on that Sunday, however I was so frantic I knew that sitting there would just keep me wondering what was going on. I packed my overnight bag up quickly and headed out to finally close this chapter in my life. Hours later I arrived at the police station where I was told that my ex had been released ten minutes prior to my arrival. This made me extremely nervous seeing as there was a chance I could have run into him in the parking lot if I was just a few minutes earlier. I was brought into a small room where I was told that my ex boyfriend was questioned and he denied everything and then later admitted to posting naked pictures of me without my consent. I was asked to do a written statement and I was told he would be getting charged with Invasion of Privacy. I was told this was a domestic violence case and because we were once in a dating relationship I had the opportunity to get a temporary restraining order. Since I clearly did not know my ex the way I thought I did, I figured it would be smart to get a temporary restraining order. Because it was Sunday, the officer had to call the judge at home to get it approved. After staying on the phone with the judge for about a half hour, my TRO (temporary restraining order) was granted and I would have to appear in court the following week to make it a final restraining order (FRO).
With an end in sight, I walked out of that police station, holding my head high and feeling relieved. Little did I know that this was just the beginning of a long journey ahead.
I’m just a bill. Yes, I’m only a bill. And I’m sittin’ here on Capital Hill…
I never paid attention to local politics—or national politics for that matter. I knew the basics: The president, which countries we were mad at, which were mad at us, the price of gas, and when to file my taxes. It was enough. I was content. Then an ex-boyfriend posted nude pictures of me on the Internet without my consent. Certain he had committed a crime, I went straight to the police.
But the law enforcement officials I turned to for help only smirked, shrugged their shoulders, and sent me on my way. Except for one State Trooper who sadly explained the ways in which the Maryland laws prevented him from doing his job, and thus prevented him from helping me. “Then, I’ll change the laws.” I said. “Annmarie,” He replied, “If you do that, it’ll make my job a lot easier.” And so it began, my foray into politics, legislation, bill drafting and testifying. But first, a visit to YouTube was in order. All those years of not paying attention had left a rather large hole in my knowledge base. I couldn’t remember the legislative steps. I didn’t know where to start. I couldn’t remember the differences between House and Senate, legislature and congress.
So I turned to the one resource that would set me on my path: School House Rock. Rosa Parks spent years readying herself for the groundbreaking civil action she performed that forever changed a turbulent moment in history. She aligned herself with the NAACP, received training in activism in worker’s rights and racial equality, and launched what was called the strongest campaign for equal justice seen in a decade. I readied myself by watching a cartoon from the 1970’s. Once I finished my refresher, I began what I considered the most difficult part of the process. I reached out to legislators with my story. I could barely talk about what happened with my friends and family without cringing with the shame that accompanies a crime of a sexual nature.
In order to see the laws changed, I shared my story with strangers who may or may not care about my suffering. I made myself vulnerable. Since crimes of a sexual nature bring about very mixed reactions, I wanted the legislators to regard the photos as a piece of trust and intimacy that was used in a way completely opposite of its intended use: to hurt, to terrorize, to induce powerlessness, to destroy. My pictures were posted in 2010. At that time, the term Revenge Porn hadn’t yet been coined. Internet searches about nude pictures being posted returned results about online stalking and harassment. I opened the emails I would send to lawmakers with the sentence, “I am a victim of cyber harassment and stalking.” Then I briefly explained what happened avoiding that the harassment included nude pictures being posted. I was still feeling shame and couldn’t bring myself to reveal the true nature of the crime. Within a week of sending my first email, I had a meeting with US Senator Mikulski’s legislative aid. I discussed what happened and the need for legislation. I presented examples of statutes and lots of statistics. I learned a lot and walked away feeling ready to approach senators in Maryland. A few weeks later Senator Brochin called in response to the email I sent him. He invited me to help draft a bill to strengthen Maryland’s online stalking and harassment laws and asked me if I would testify in support of the bill. On February 2, 2011, I testified before the
Maryland General Assembly’s judicial committee in support of Senate bills 175 and 107. Senate bill 175 was passed into law on April 10th and went into effect on October 1st, 2011. The bill amended Maryland’s misuse of electronic mail law to include all forms of electronic communication. It was a step forward, but a small one. There are still amendments needed, and they shall come in time. I was one voice among many who came to testify that day. But I was the only victim of online harassment and revenge porn. And while it was difficult to reveal the true nature of the crime to a crowded room, it was the first step on the road I now travel as a victim advocate. Since the bill was passed, I have aligned myself with a coalition of powerful women who share my dedication to seeing legislation that makes revenge porn a crime passed in all 50 states.
We are advocates, activists and legal researchers. I still face some of the fears I did the day I first brought my case to law enforcement, but I have embraced my role as the voice for those who have not yet found their voices. And I will speak out.
“I’m struggling to stay in this world, because everything just touches me so deeply. I’m not doing this for attention. I’m doing this to be an inspiration and to show that I can be strong. I did things to myself to make pain go away, because I’d rather hurt myself then someone else. Haters are haters but please don’t hate, although im sure I’ll get them.
I hope I can show you guys that everyone has a story, and everyones future will be bright one day, you just gotta pull through.
I’m still here aren’t I?” -Amanda Todd, September 7, 2012
Imagine feeling alone, betrayed and constantly afraid. This was an everyday occurrence for Amanda Todd.
In 7th grade, after meeting new people online who told her how beautiful she was, she made the mistake of giving in to someone’s repeated requests for a topless photo of herself. That one photo haunted her from school to school, from city to city, and online. Amanda found out the way I did that sharing pictures online means that they are up there forever. She was teased, bullied, threatened, and even beaten up by the people she had to face everyday.
More than anything, she was alone. Alone with her fears and haunting thoughts. Amanda experimented with drugs and alcohol to ease her pain. She turned to physical pain, cutting herself when the bullying worsened and her depression escalated. When a girl punched her in front of the whole school, ridiculing her, telling her that nobody cared about her, she went home and drank bleach in an attempt to end her own suffering. She was saved at the hospital, but her tormenters spared no opportunity to ridicule her for it.
On October 10, 2012 Amanda Todd committed suicide.
I chose to blog today about Amanda because today marks the one-year anniversary of her death. And today we get to celebrate the life of a beautiful young girl that we lost all too soon. If there is one thing you take away from her tragic story, please remember that your words are powerful and sometimes we can underestimate how much they mean. Treat the people around you with respect.
Nobody deserves what Amanda went through. I wish I had known her. I wish I had one day with her to help her and to let her know that she wasn’t alone. I wish I could tell her that she’s my hero and that she is the reason that I’ve stayed strong and kept fighting for justice.
Though we can’t bring her back to life, I choose to remember her…rest in peace, Amanda.
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.” –Mahatma Gandhi
It is refreshing to hear someone talk about revenge porn like it’s a crime. To hear people acknowledge that nobody deserves to be harassed and violated is something many victims have been waiting years for.
It is even more exciting to hear those sentiments coming from lawmakers like Assemblyman Edward C. Braunstein, who stated, “Disseminating sexual explicit images that were shared with an expectation of privacy can cause lasting damage to victims and should be a crime.”
Fresh on the heels of Sen. Anthony Cannella’s victory against revenge porn in California, Assemblyman Braunstein and Sen. Joseph A. Griffo of New York announced Thursday that they are introducing new legislation criminalizing revenge porn.
“This so-called phenomena of ‘cyber-revenge,’ is a tawdry form of exploitation. From what we know, the majority of its victims are women who don’t know that their images and likenesses [have] been bartered and sold over the Internet,” said Sen. Griffo. “Currently, these victims have limited options when their pictures taken with their consent, were posted online.”
The legislation is especially promising because Mary Anne Franks, an Associate Professor of Law at the University of Miami who wrote the legislative proposal for End Revenge Porn, helped draft the bill. The bipartisan effort would make New York the third state, behind New Jersey and California, to pass a law against revenge porn. Cyber Civil Rights Initiative founder, Dr. Holly Jacobs, has repeatedly stated that revenge porn is a problem that will continue to grow if it is not addressed through appropriate legislation.
Assemblyman Braunstein agreed with that position, stating, “Passage of this legislation would make it clear that New Yorkers will not allow this type of harassment to continue. With the proliferation of cell phones and social networking, this problem will only get worse if we do not take immediate action.” Finding supportive lawmakers is key to ending revenge porn, but changing laws is only half the battle. Our goal is to change public attitudes that lead to victim blaming and allow revenge porn to go unaddressed.
Show your support for this law and help change the public discourse by participating in the discussion on Twitter and Facebook.
Photo credit: ginasanders / 123RF Stock Photo
In 2011, private, intimate images of Dr. Holly Jacobs were posted online and distributed without her consent to her employer, her peers, her friends, her family members, and to strangers online. This violation of her intimate privacy led to harassment and injury to her mental health, educational and professional opportunities, and relationships. Throughout her ordeal, she sought help from law enforcement and attorneys but found little support or understanding.
In 2012, Dr. Jacobs began a grassroots effort to help victims and survivors like herself. She launched End Revenge Porn, an online campaign that collected signatures in favor of criminalizing nonconsensual distribution of intimate images (NDII). Over time, End Revenge Porn grew into an online hub where individuals experiencing NDII could get information and support from survivors and advocates, receive referrals to pro or low bono attorneys, and support legislation against NDII.
In 2013, Dr. Jacobs formalized this growing grassroots campaign by founding the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI) as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Today, CCRI is the nation’s leading organization serving thousands of victims around the world and advocating for technological, social, and legal innovation to fight online abuse.
CCRI’s Mission is to combat online abuses that threaten civil rights and civil liberties.
CCRI’s Vision is of a world in which law, policy and technology align to ensure the protection of civil rights and civil liberties for all.
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*Photo taken Friday, January 18, 2013 Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise
Dear Revenge Porn Victim, The moments after you first see your naked photos on the internet for display is a pivotal moment in your life. It’s a moment when time stands still, and everything, EVERYTHING changes. In an instant you lose not only your privacy and your confidence, but you are soon made to feel you’ve lost your voice as you cry out for help, and it seems no one’s listening. I don’t have to imagine how helpless you feel, I know how helpless you feel. I’ve lived it.
YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
YOU HAVE A VOICE!
PEOPLE ARE LISTENING!
You soon become desperate, and are willing to do ANYTHING to have your pictures removed and to feel relief. You just want it to GO AWAY! These spineless, predatory cowards lurking in the shadows behind involuntary porn websites know that you will get desperate enough to do anything they tell you. They offer you relief in return for your payment, or they claim they will remove pictures if you publish your “story” on their site. They come up with all sort of ways to “help” you. In reality, nothing they say they are willing to do is to help you, but rather help them. You’ve already been exploited! Don’t let them further humiliate you, and use you to their advantage. Stand up for yourself, take a stand against them and let them know they will not win. Don’t tell THEM your story; tell a lawyer, tell an investigator, tell Bullyville, tell the public! Expose them the way they’ve exposed you, and in turn hold them accountable for their actions! There ARE good people out there willing to help you! There ARE options! They can only get away with what we allow them to. You are the only one who can take away their power, by taking a STAND!
NEVER GIVE UP!
Your friend, Hollie Toups
*Photo taken Friday, January 18, 2013 Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise
