RMIT Report indicates that one in five young people experiencing some form of revenge porn.. privacy issues abound… the law limps fails to provide redress
May 8, 2017 |
Revenge porn or its new iteration “image based abuse” has been a feature of the internet for some time. Social media and platforms in countries with no credible regulation has provided perpetrators with effective and vicious means to humiliate and harm those who were naive, foolish or simply unfortunate enough to have their images in the possession of others. It is not a new problem. Victoria criminalised that conduct by creating the new offences of distribution of an intimate image, section 41DA, and threat to distribute an intimate image, section 41DB, under the Summary Offences Act 1966. Sexting is defined as “the creating, sharing, sending or posting of sexually explicit messages or images via the internet, mobile phones or other electronic devices”. South Australia has similar laws with sections 26B and 26 C of the Summary Offences Act 1953 (SA).
According to a report, titled Not Just ‘Revenge Pornography’: Australians’ Experiences of Image-Based Abuse by RMIT and Monash University of 4,200 Australians aged between 16 and 49:
- 20 per cent had experienced the non-consensual creation of nude or sexual images
- 11 per cent had experienced the non-consensual distribution of nude or sexual images
- 9 per cent had experienced the threat of distributing those images
The most likely victims are those aged between 16 and 29. Most perpetrators are men. This is hardly surprising.
The RMIT media release provides:
The first comprehensive research on “revenge porn” has revealed the mass scale of victimisation across Australia, with 1 in 5 people suffering image-based abuse.
The first comprehensive research on “revenge porn” has revealed the mass scale of victimisation across Australia, with 1 in 5 people suffering image-based abuse.
The survey of more than 4200 people by RMIT University and Monash University researchers has shown women and men are equally likely to be victims.
But the research also showed marginalised groups are especially vulnerable, with image-based abuse affecting 1 in 2 Indigenous Australians and 1 in 2 people with a disability. The risk of victimisation is also higher for young people and lesbian, gay and bisexual Australians.
The most common types of abuse were taking sexual or nude images without consent (20 per cent), distributing images without consent (11 per cent) and threatening to share images (9 per cent).
The survey also for the first time revealed the damaging psychological toll on victims, with those threatened and experiencing “sextortion”, and those whose images had been distributed, the most severely affected by depression and/or anxiety.
Chief investigator, RMIT University’s Dr Nicola Henry, said the research showed this type of abuse was far more common and affected a wider range of people than previously thought.
“Image-based abuse has emerged so rapidly as an issue that inevitably our laws and policies are struggling to catch up,” Henry said.
“This isn’t just about ‘revenge porn’ – images are being used to control, abuse and humiliate people in ways that go well beyond the ‘relationship gone sour’ scenario.”
RMIT’s Dr Anastasia Powell said a lack of proper legal and support responses made it incredibly difficult for victims to get justice.
“We need to rethink our approach both from a legal perspective but also as a community, to change attitudes that often blame the victims and play down the very real harm caused by image-based abuse,” she said.
The research by Henry, Powell and Monash University’s Dr Asher Flynn recommends a range of reforms, including improved support services for victims such as a dedicated helpline similar to the “Revenge Porn Helpline” established in the United Kingdom in 2015.
Legal reforms proposed include making image-based abuse a crime under federal telecommunications law, and addressing the piecemeal legislative approach across the states (only Victoria and South Australia have specific laws that criminalise the distribution of intimate or invasive images without consent).
Flynn said the prevalence and harms associated with image-based abuse warranted stronger action from social media and internet companies.
“Social media providers and internet companies need to introduce strong and proactive measures that take seriously the harms of image-based abuse, and seek to create safe online spaces for victims,” she said.
Flynn said it was also likely the survey findings underestimated the extent of image-based abuse.
“Our survey only captured those victims who had become aware their images had been distributed, whereas some victims may never discover that their images have been taken and distributed, particularly if they are circulated on sites located on the dark web.”
The study findings are from a national online survey of 4274 people aged 16 to 49.
Who are the victims
- Women (22 per cent) and men (23 per cent) were equally likely to be victimised
- 56 per cent of people with a disability and 50 per cent of Indigenous Australians had been victims of image-based abuse
- People who identified as lesbian, gay or bisexual were more likely to be victims (36 per cent) than heterosexual people (21 per cent)
- 1 in 3 of people aged 16-19, and 1 in 4 aged 20-29, reported at least one form of image victimisation
- People who had shared sexual selfies were significantly more likely to have been victimised (37 per cent) than those who had never sent a sexual image (10 per cent)
How are they being affected
- 23 per cent had experienced at least one form of image-based abuse victimisation
- 20 per cent had a sexual or nude image taken without their consent
- 11 per cent had an image sent onto others or distributed without consent, with 40 per cent of those reporting the images were distributed across multiple devices and platforms (including SMS, Snapchat, Facebook and “revenge porn” sites)
- 9 per cent had experienced “sextortion”, or threats that an image would be shared without their consent
What is the impact
- 80 per cent of people who had experienced “sextortion” reported high levels of psychological distress, consistent with moderate to severe depression and/or anxiety disorder, with 46 per cent also feeling highly fearful for their safety
- Moderate to severe depression and/or anxiety affected 75 per cent of victims whose images were distributed, and 67 per cent of those whose images were taken without consent
- 39 per cent of people whose images were distributed, and 28 per cent of those whose images were taken without consent, felt highly fearful for their safety
Who are the perpetrators
- The majority (54 per cent) of victims reported the perpetrator was male, 33 per cent reported the perpetrator was female, 13 per cent were either unknown or a mixed group
- Women (39 per cent) were more likely than men (30 per cent) to be victimised by an intimate partner or ex-partner
- Women (12 per cent) were also more likely than men (5 per cent) to have had a stranger take a nude or sexual image of them without permission
The report, Not Just ‘Revenge Pornography: Australians’ Experience of Image-Based Abuse, is the first stage of research funded by La Trobe University, the Australian Criminology Research Council and the Australian Research Council. The next stage will extend the research beyond Australia, incorporating New Zealand and the UK.
This is reported in One in five has experienced image based abuse, research finds, Image abuse and what to do about it, One-in-five Australians have been targeted with revenge porn, study reveals and Depression common in image abuse victims.
While there are some criminal offences relating to revenge porn the civil protections are lacking. To say the least. Ultimately a person would need to rely on the equitable action for misuse of personal information as occurred in the Western Australian Supreme Court decision of Wilson v Ferguson (which I blogged here). It is a wholly unsatisfactory state of affairs that there is no civil remedy that a person can not seek or have a regulator seek on that person’s behalf. The law is woefully inadequate.
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