Content warning: this article contains reference to rape and sexual assault that might be triggering to some readers.

Social media is such a huge part of the modern world and it is not going away any time soon. With lockdown, our reliance upon it in order to have a link to the outside world has increased tenfold. There are some definite positives of this – we are able to keep up with the news surrounding coronavirus, and stay in touch with family and friends. However, there is a dangerous side to social media and people are often taken advantage of, as is the case with revenge porn.

The definition of revenge porn is the distribution of sexually explicit images or video of individuals without their permission. During lockdown, this issue has increased dramatically with the UK group Not Your Porn releasing the statistics that cases have doubled from last year. This may be due to the fact that at such a stressful time, abuse is going to be magnified as some people take their struggles out on others. Couples may also be separated during lockdown, and in some controlling relationships, one partner may try and exert control over the other by threatening the release of their private images.

This is a very difficult issue to tackle. For example, users who upload this kind of illegal footage to sites such as Pornhub can have anonymous accounts, making it difficult to track them down. There is also no way to check the person in the video’s age and thus this opens the door to child abuse. Rape videos are often also posted online and watched by millions of people, forcing the victim to experience this pain over and over again. Videos can also be reuploaded despite being deleted so people are often living in constant fear that private videos of them will once again resurface. It should be widely recognised that consent regarding online material is just as imperative as consent concerning physical sexual acts.

In the modern world, awareness for so many things are quite rightly increasing. However, why is it that we still do not hear about online abuses to a larger extent? The conversation surrounding revenge porn and victims’ rights also needs to be brought into the spotlight so that society can boast an increased understanding and this issue can be tackled. The effects of revenge porn are dangerous, leaving people who have suffered with a lack of self-esteem, and struggling acutely with their mental health due to the shame and anxiety they have experienced.

There are charities which aim to help people in such situations, including Revenge Porn Helpline. However, there is simply not enough funding to deal with the increasing number of people experiencing this issue. The sad fact is that there are so many cases, but the charity does not have the resources to deal with all of these people. Therefore, we need to open up this conversation so that such charities receive greater attention which would in turn bring in more money. It must be noted that currently laws are failing people as they are not stringent enough and therefore the government must be pressured in order for such changes to be made. Everyone has a right to their own privacy, and this is exceedingly important when it comes to the intimacy of your own body, and failing to change the laws is failing so many people who deserve this right.