Punishable Practice?

 

Imagine yourself making your way to class or work one morning and notice no one is greeting you like every morning; instead you are received with disparagingly smiles and mocking stares. Confused you go about your day, but now people are starting to whisper when you pass by and you are beginning to feel very uncomfortable.  Sometime after you walk up to a group of peers gathered around a computer displaying a picture of you, and intimate picture of YOU. But how can that be so?! How did they manage to get a hold of that picture? You only sent that picture to…Oh yes your Ex.
Once upon a time, vicious people did their hurtful work through notes, gossip, insults etc. Nowadays, they have a more disturbing and repulsive weapon: revenge porn. What is Revenge Porn? Is sexually explicit photos and or videos of someone publicly shared online (most frequently by an ex-lover without the subjects permission) for the purpose of spiteful humiliation.

On October 12, 2013 the Editorial Board of the New York Times posted an article titled  Fighting Back Against Revenge Porn regarding this problem.  It briefly introduces the term and goes on to tell the reader about the lack of punishment for people who post intimate pictures of their ex partners.  It also informs the reader about the invasion of privacy law adopted by New Jersey in 2004 “which prohibits the dissemination of sexual recordings or pictures without consent”. But if he obtained the images legitimately, the law allows him to argue that he is “privileged” to distribute them. The article also tells about California’s new signed bill that makes Revenge Porn punishable with up to half a year in jail and a $1000 fine. However it only applies if the person distributing the pictures was also the photographer. California’s law does not cover situations where someone took a self-portrait and shared it with a partner, who then uploaded it to the Internet.

In my opining the Editorial Board provided good information about the subject but I feel some examples of the outcomes of such practice could have a greater impact on the reader both men and women. Both genders need to be aware of the irremediable damages of sharing a nude “selfie” can cause. Even though females tend to be the most affected by this form of humiliation men tend to be affected as well. Nevertheless, next time you are about to share an intimate picture of yourself with your significant other think twice. You may not want to see it published all over social networks. Remember, once is out there it can never be taken back.