Revenge Porn: Is it Really Abusive Behavior?

States across the US are creating stiff penalties for people who post revenge porn.  For those who have not yet heard the term, revenge porn involves intimate photos taken within the confines of an intimate relationship - when the relationship ends, the photos are posted online by a vindictive ex.     The question that inevitably arises, "why did you allow yourself to be photographed?" It's exactly what the ex wants you to ask - to shame her and make her feel stupid, unworthy, useless.  Victims are usually very young, and which of us hasn't done something regretable as a young adult?  Most victims are talked into the racy photos as a sign of "loyalty" to the person they trust, by allowing themselves to be vulnerable. 

Online abusive behavior is a magnification of offline abusive behavior. People who utilize revenge porn are likely physically stalking their victims too. The internet makes it so much easier to be an effective stalker. It also offers the opportunity to recruit proxies (friends) to do some of the dirty work; by manipulating them to help the abuser destroy the victim as he shreds her reputation and threatens her livelihood. You see, abusers know the fine art of manipulation like the back of their hands.

Consider what would happen if I put posters of revenge porn up on every street corner of the city where my ex lived. Of course, those posters would have the address where my OWN CHILDREN RESIDE, as I solicit every freak on the street for the ex's free sexual services (pretending to be her, of course). I'd also make sure I list her place of employment with her supervisors phone number for some added fun. I'd be investigated and arrested for endangering the welfare of a child at the least; most likely for aggravated harassment also. 

You might argue that the ex is entitled to "freedom of speech," and his constitutional rights cannot be violated. But wise up people - this doesn't have anything to do with so-called free speech. If someone actively tries to put another individual in physical, emotional, or economical danger, there is CRIMINAL INTENT. Whether that can be prosecuted or not currently depends upon which state you reside in. It looks like states are beginning to back these victims' rights up by encouraging prosecutors to collect the forensic data evidence and present it in a court of law. At the end of the day, abuse is still abuse and stalking is still stalking.  The only difference here is the use of technology.