
Imagine for a moment that one day you are browsing the Internet and discover that your ex-partner posted sexually explicit images of you without your consent, just to get revenge for ending the relationship. It may seem like a nightmare, but it is not as unusual as it seems.
In Spain, 29% of people have practiced sexting, that is, they have sent messages of sexual content to someone, according to experts in traffic encryption to guarantee private and safer browsing.
As a result, it is not surprising that approximately 1 in 10 people have threatened their ex-partners by posting sexually explicit photos online. Unfortunately, about 60% of those threats come true. And the situation is even worse among young people between 16 and 29 years old: 1 in 5 admit to having been a victim of an act of revenge porn.
What is Revenge Porn?
Revenge porn involves the diffusion of sexually explicit images or videos of a person without their permission, as a form of punishment. It generally occurs after a breakup, when one of the members is resentful. In fact, a study conducted at the University of Tampa revealed that the majority of victims are women and the attackers are boyfriends or ex-partners.
The content may have been sent voluntarily by the victim through practices such as sexting or may have been recorded or stored without the victim’s knowledge. Then the aggressor shares these images, videos or texts on different platforms, whether on social networks, through messages and emails or even on purpose-built websites.
In many cases it includes the victim’s name and contact details, which intensifies the harassment and branches its consequences beyond the online environment. The ubiquity of this type of abuse makes it impossible for the victim to know for sure its extent and to know how many people or who have seen their photos or videos, which gives it an even more terrifying and traumatic nuance, becoming a shadow that continually hovers over his/her head.
What drives a person to intimately expose someone?
After a romantic breakup, a jilted lover can channel his/her resentment in many ways. And he/she doesn’t always do it by drowning in a sea of tears. In the age of mobile devices and social media, sharing compromising content about others is becoming an increasingly common form of revenge.
It is no coincidence that in approximately 86% of cases, the person who spread the sexual images had a personal relationship with the victim, such as an ex-partner. The desire to “get revenge” on someone who has hurt them is one of the most frequent reasons for exposing someone’s privacy. Feeling hurt and betrayed can generate an explosive cocktail of anger, frustration and pain that pushes some people to want to hurt others so that they feel the same as them.
However, revenge porn is not a simple impulsive act. There is much more behind the scenes. Psychological studies have found that those who resort to this tactic to hurt an ex-partner share some personality characteristics known as the “dark triad”:
1. Narcissism. It implies having an excessively positive image of themselves accompanied by an unstable and fragile self-esteem, which is why these are people who are very susceptible to negative criticism and do not know how to handle setbacks well.
2. Machiavellianism. It is the attempt to manipulate and exploit others, breaking ethical standards to achieve their objectives. They are people who continually put their interests before those of others, thinking that the end justifies the means.
3. Psychopathy. It involves impulsive and antisocial behavior, accompanied by superficial charm, but with little empathy and callousness in interpersonal relationships, as well as an inability to experience remorse or shame.
Therefore, spite or pain is not enough, revenge porn also feeds on certain personality traits. In fact, it is an increasingly common strategy in those who try to dominate or control their victims or even in people who try to obtain financial benefits through sextortion. That means that you must be very careful with whom you share more intimate content.
The terrible consequences of Revenge Porn
Revenge porn is a complete invasion of privacy. The public humiliation to which the victim is exposed generates deep feelings of shame and guilt, which leads to isolation and loneliness.
A study conducted at the Saint Louis University School of Medicine revealed that the social impact is enormous, especially for its reputation. Victims may even lose their jobs and have difficulty finding new employment. It is also more difficult for them to rebuild their love life.
Since the exhibition usually comes from people we have trusted, the fact that they break that tacit agreement generates a feeling of violation and betrayal that also causes devastating effects on mental health.
An analysis of 18 women who went through this ordeal conducted at Simon Fraser University revealed that they suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, suicidal ideation and serious trust issues. The study concluded that the emotional consequences of revenge porn are similar to those experienced by victims of rape and sexual assault.
Worst of all, due to the stigma associated with nudity and sexuality, especially for women and young people, victims of revenge porn often do not ask for help. They often internalize the blame that society itself places on them, so that they not only have to deal with harassment and social humiliation, but also feel responsible for it. In the long run, all of this ends up undermining their self-esteem, making them even feel unworthy, which plunges them into a vicious circle from which it is very difficult to get out.
Neither porn nor revenge, crime
Many people who decide to share a sexually explicit photo assume that the recipient will not share it. However, they may be being too optimistic because surveys indicate that 25% of those who received such messages forwarded them to someone else. Only 50% of women and 33% of men believe it is “always wrong” to forward a private sexual image to another person.
This laxity regarding private data may be due, at least in part, to the increasing tendency to share our lives on social networks, so that the boundaries between the intimate and the public are increasingly blurred, especially in new generations. In many countries the non-consensual dissemination of images of people constitutes a criminal offense.
However, due to its profound impact, there are more and more voices calling for this practice to be reviewed and classified as a sexual crime, with more serious penalties.
In any case, it is better to prevent and be very careful with the images you share. And if you are a victim of revenge porn, you should know that you can report it, in addition to contacting social media platforms or browsers such as Google and Bing to remove inappropriate content.
References:
Murça, A. et. Al. (2023) Prevalence and Impact of Revenge Pornography on a Sample of Portuguese Women. Sex Cult.; 3: 1–17.
Thomason-Darch, N. (2021) The Dark Tetrad of personality and the tendency to engage in revenge porn. The Plymouth Student Scientist; 14(2): 651-668.