❌Revenge Porn – The incorrect, the correct and the ideal terminology
Lately we have been hearing a lot the term “revenge porn” in an attempt to describe the growing trend of male ex partners transmitting images or videos with sexual content without obtaining consent of their ex partners. The term “revenge porn” which mainly caught the eye of media, is not only legally incorrect, as we will discuss below, but also misdirects the public consultation creating false impressions regarding the surrounding circumstances of the offence. This results once again, in the creation of the phenomenon ‘secondary victimization’ (aka ‘victim blaming’).
In Cyprus there is a general and broad framework within which the offence of distributing or threatening to distribute image or video with sexual content (when the underlying persons are adults) however, we think the time has come for this offence to obtain the terminology it deserves. But what is revenge pornography?
‘Revenge pornography’
Hunter Moore was one of the ‘co-founders, so to say, of revenge pornography (preceded in 1980 by Larry Flint), who established in and administered in 2010 the page IsAnyoneUp.com, through which nude and otherwise compromising photos of women were publicly posted by angry ex-partners seeking revenge. The victims/underlying subjects of those images, who did not give consent to their images being posted online were identified by their name, as well as with their social media information and at times even with their contact details. A significant amount of the images were obtained from email accounts that the above website creator / administrator had hacked. He was sentenced in America to 2 and a half years imprisonment accompanied by three years of supervised circulation. He was also fined $2,000.
The term ‘revenge pornography’ is problematic
The term ‘revenge pornography‘ is particularly problematic . The world ‘revenge’ suggests that the victim of the crime, committed some kind of wrongdoing / infringement against the actual perpetrator.
Indeed, ‘revenge’ is interpreted as any intentional act against a person in retaliation for harm or damage suffered either by or on behalf of the person who suffered harm. The use of the word ‘revenge’ shifts the discussion and the responsibility away from the perpetrators, and we are seeing that the victims are victimized again. Frustration and rejection should not be used as an ‘excuse’ mitigating circumstance for anyone to threaten to distribute/share or ultimately distribute/ share a digital image depicting their former or current partner in any way.
We strongly believe, that control should be applied to the terminology used when describing sexual offences, sexual abuse and violence to ensure the support of victims and to prevent the perpetuation of harmful stereotypes.
Τhe fact that the terminology ‘revenge porn’ is considered problematic, is not a new issue. Professor Clare McGlynn, at Durham University, who specialises in the legal regulation of pornography, image-based sexual abuse, violence against women, and gender equality published, that the term “image-based sexual abuse” is the correct legal terminology that should be prescribed to the crime. [1] Firstly, she argues, that the crime is not always committed in the form of revenge where the ex partner distributes images or videos without his/her ex partner’s consent. There are many others kinds of image-based sexual abuse that the law should cover.
What many people forget, is that a lot of people take photos of the victim without the victim giving consent to take the photograph or without the victim being aware of the offender doing so.
Secondly, as Clare McGlynn mentions, it’s not porn. ‘The labelling of revenge porn as ‘porn’ is salacious, designed to titillate’. As she argues, such labelling is distracting as it leads most people to believe that the images must be pornographic or obscene, prior to them being unlawful, or that the perpetrator is motivated by sexual gratification.
According to a survey worth reading here, image-based sexual abuse is used by perpetrators of domestic violence who attempt to coercively control a current or former intimate partner.
Police and service providers have also described, how such images are used to threaten victims of sexual and domestic violence in order to prevent them from seeking help or reporting to police
Unfortunately, despite the fact that the term ‘revenge pornography’ is not legally correct we notice that it is constantly mentioned by the relevant authorities and reproduced by media.
Cyprus Law
The Law on Combatting Violence of 2021
The discussed herein offence, is covered by Article 9 of the Preventing and Combatting Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and Related Matters Law of 2021 ( the “Law on Combatting Violence of 2021) which incorporates the provisions of the Istanbul Convention.
⚫Disclosing/distributing material of sexual content:
Article 9.-(1): A person who circulates, publishes, disseminates, reproduces or transmits by any electronic, digital, or printed means of any nature, content with pornographic or sexual content* in relation to a woman without her consent, under the circumstances of a reasonable expectation of privacy, with the intention to intimidate and/or humiliate and/or harass and or cause emotional distress and/or economic or other damage or harm and/or to obtain illegal financial benefit, is guilty of a felony, and on conviction is subject to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years.
⚫ Threatening/extort to transmit/publish material of sexual content with digital or other means
(2) A person who threatens or extorts a woman without her consent, to circulate, publish, disseminate, reproduce or transmit by any electronic, digital, printed or other means of any nature, material of pornographic or sexual content displaying the same woman, is guilty of a felony, and on conviction is subject to imprisonment for a term which does not exceed 14 years.
The prescribed punishment definitely reflects the importance of combatting this crime whilst it also indicates the deterrent effect which the legislation seeks to impose.
The above article also provides that a person who attempts to commit the above crimes is guilty of an offence and on conviction, is subject to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years.
Can distribution, publication, transmission of digital material with sexual content be considered as violence?
The answer is 100% yes.
This is explicitly foreseen in the Law on Combatting Violence of 2021. In particular, the offence of transmitting material of pornographic or sexual consent is considered as an offence violence against a woman. [2]
The position of GREVIO
As the Group of Experts on Action against Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (‘GREVIO‘) mentioned, The digital dimension of violence against women encompasses a wide range of behaviour that falls under the definition of violence against women set out in Article 3a of the Istanbul Convention. [4]
Our position
✖It is now clear that there there is no offence that is legally defined as ‘revenge pornography’.
Although the Law on Combatting Violence of 2021 και ο Νόμος Καταπολέμησης της Βίας του 2021 constitutes a satisfactory legislative framework for the protection of a victim and for the initiation of a court proceeding against a perpetrator we believe that:
⦿ the use of the term in Article 9 ‘material with pornographic …content’ is not correct.
⦿it does not reflect neither the motives of a perpetrator nor that in 2022 it is any woman’s choice to send to / take with a partner or a person with whom she communicates an image or video of sexual content and the only punishable act is publishing, transmitting, or reproducing such photo or video without prior obtaining consent and / or threatening to publish such.
⦿there are a lot of ways through which someone may create material of sexual content, content which does not even exist. This Law does not seem to be compatible with the technological advancements and the new methods which the perpetrator may invent.
The ideal and more appropriate terminology
The terminology ‘image based sexual abuse’ has already been recommended in the UK whereas GREVIO has already introduced the term in its General Recommendation No. 1 for the digital dimension of violence against women (you may read our relevant article for this here).
It is defined as the non-consensual taking, publishing, or threatening to publish nude images or videos or images or videos of sexual nature of a person. [5]
It also includes ‘deepfakes’ a digitally modified image where the person or body of one person is added to an image which already depicts nude or sexual content and such image is created with the use of artificial intelligence. [6]
✓ Of course, there is no perfect terminology, however the term ‘pornography’ does not clearly describe the issue. On the contrary, the use of the terminology ‘image-based sexual abuse’ conveys the nature and extent of the harms suffered by victims, better reflects the diversity of behaviours through which it is expressed, as well as the wide range of digital devices and platforms used for the abuse.
Clare McGlynn και Erika Rackley
[1]https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/documents/college-artslaw/law/research/bham-law-spotlight-ibsa.pdf
[2] Article 5 of the Law on Combatting Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and Related Matters of 2021
[3] άρθρο 9 of the Law on Combatting Violence against Women and Domestic Violence and Related Matters of 2021
*(a) material depicting a person engaging in an actual or simulated act of a sexual nature,or
(b) depiction of a sexual nature of a woman’s breasts or the genitals or anus of any person,or
(c) material depicting and/or recording a person engaging in an actual or simulated act of a sexual nature or any nude depiction of a woman’s breasts or of the genitals or anus of any person, or
(d) realistic images of a person in which the person is depicted engaging in an act of a sexual nature or realistic images of a woman’s breasts or of the anus or genitals of any person, or
(e) written or printed speech of a pornographic and/or sexual nature.
[4]https://rm.coe.int/grevio-rec-no-on-digital-violence-against-women/1680a49147 σελίδα 17
[5]Powell, A., & Henry, N. (2017). Sexual violence in a digital age. Springer; Powell, A., Henry, N., & Flynn, A. (2018). Image-based 15 sexual abuse. In Routledge handbook of critical criminology (pp. 305-315). New York: Routledge; Powell, A., Henry, N., Flynn, A., & Scott, A. J. (2019). Image-based sexual abuse: The extent, nature, and predictors of perpetration in a community sample of Australian residents. Computers in Human Behavior, 92, 393-402.
[6]Flynn, A., & Henry, N. (2019). Image-based sexual abuse: An Australian reflection. Women & Criminal Justice, 1-14
Leave a Reply