Why do sections of society still think a victim of revenge porn is to blame for a criminal act committed against her?

There are thousands and millions of revenge porn victims, predominantly, girls and women across the world. Revenge porn is used to control girls. It is used to get girls and women to get married against their will. It is used to get women to stay in a domestic violence environment. It is used to abuse, make fun, embarrass and ridicule the victim. It is used to undermine and destroy the victim. Girls and women are drugged, blackmailed, manipulated and deceived into this criminal act.

It is a shame this criminal act is committed mostly by the person the victim trust, which can be family members, siblings, spouses, loved ones and friends. Gang members, human traffickers and strangers use this criminal act to their advantage too. It is a shame girls and women are told to protect themselves all the time, yet, when this criminal act happens they are blamed.

As a parent, I started telling my daughter from the age of four/five to wear shorts under her dress and skirt. What a world we live in that is so disadvantageous to girls and women, I had to encourage this behaviour from a young age to protect her. As a thirteen-year-old girl, I was sexually molested while unwell and under the influence of medical drugs by a medical professional. At the time, I did not understand nor comprehend, until the memories came back years later. Imagine it was recorded on a camera phone and used to blackmail me. Am sure I would have been blamed for the criminal act.

The statistics that say 1 in 4 girls and women are a victim of sexual abuse do not give a wrong calculation. More needs to be done to eradicate this criminal act. People need to be educated, laws need to be written, persecution needs to follow, girls/women need to be protected.

Educate and get yourself informed on Revenge Porn. Gov.uk, FTC, EIGE, Washington Post, OACHR, UN.