Police getting more reports of revenge porn
Published:Saturday | April 28, 2018 | 12:00 AMBrian Walker/Staff Reporter
More and more victims of revenge pornography locally are moving to seek justice, with 28 cases reported to the police last year. This was a 75 per cent increase over the number of cases reported in 2016.
Revenge pornography is a form of malicious communication as defined in the Cybercrimes Act and represents the distribution of sexual material without someone's consent, in a push to cause harm.
In many cases, the publication stems from a relationship gone sour, but in some instances, images are retrieved from a borrowed or stolen device.
"There are instances where persons have reported that their nude image is seen on a porn site. However, the issue becomes attributing the posting of that image to a particular individual. There is always the issue of anonymity created by the use of digital devices," said Andrea Martin-Swaby, head of the Cybercrime Unit at the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
UNDER-REPORTED
Martin-Swaby asserted that it is hard to gauge how widespread revenge porn is locally because it is under-reported because of stigma.
"There are instances where persons who have given witness statement are reluctant to commit to the trial process. Complainants have indicated fear, embarrassment and shame, and (they) are sometimes concerned about their image being viewed by additional persons in the trial process," added Martin-Swaby.
It is against that background that Nadeen Spence, gender advocate, argues that the narrative needs to move beyond victim blaming.
"You can say to people, be careful, now that we know when relationships go bad, there's a tendency for these things to happen," said Spence.
She continued, "Relationships end and you don't have to ruin someone's life and someone's reputation because it didn't go well for you."
The last revenge-porn conviction came in January when Donovan Coley was fined $500,000 or 12 months in prison.
He sent obscene photos of his ex-girlfriend to her current partner after she refused to remain in a relationship with him.
The maximum penalty for malicious communication is $4 million or four years in prison.