Explore. Experience. Discover. Digital technology and Internet arrived as a tool for the expression of our sexuality and eroticism. No one can take away your right to experience your sexuality as you think fit, and surely not by imposing patriarchal violence when recording, storing and publishing intimate photos and videos without your consent.
What does it mean to record, store and publish sexual graphic material without consent?
“Revenge porn” is understood in this project as the dissemination of audio-visual and graphic material, explicitly sexual or of erotic content, without the consent of one of the depicted individuals and without legitimate purpose, frequently with the intention to humiliate, intimidate and/or extort the victim. The publication of this material can be done by a partner, an ex-partner or a third party.
Non-consensual pornography is recognized as a kind of gender violence of sexual type, done through electronic media, and you have the right to resist, defend and protect yourself against it.
Why should we stop using the expression “revenge porn”?
Unfortunately, the communication media has made the expression “revenge porn” very popular. These terms are problematic, mainly because pornography – which is a consensual activity – has very little to do with the violence that is imposed on victims of the non-consensual publication of erotic and sexual content.
In response, the expression “non-consensual pornography” began to be used with the understanding that the act of disclosing a private and sexually explicit image to a third party could be described as pornographic, since it turns a private image into public sexual entertainment. The moralistic load still connected to pornography in our cultures explains why this term isn’t yet the ideal one, however, because we lack a better option – a short term, and widely used – we chose this expression since it at least recognizes the importance of consent.
Which other steps can we take as a community in order to end non-consensual pornography?
As you’re going to see on the web, today there’s no 100% ideal solution for these cases. Thus, the purpose of this project is not only to offer the victims information about the tools at their disposal, but also to foster a critical sense in the community regarding the context in which non-consensual pornography occurs.
We should exercise pressure and be agents of change in:
- Politics and tools of all private platforms on the Internet. They should not only understand the complexities of non-consensual pornography and be capable to put themselves in the victim’s shoes, but also answer to its Latin American users seriously.
- Responses from the State. Particularly law enforcement and the police should both stop re-victimizing individuals who have suffered this kind of gender violence. Similarly, if it comes to a legal act, both executive and legislative powers should take the problem seriously and shouldn’t use it as an excuse for Internet censorship.
- Responses from our communities. As in all environments, we should have zero tolerance against gender violence on the Internet. The dissemination of non-consensual pornography is simply unacceptable and no one should have to report it to law enforcement in order to ratify that. Social rejection should be the general reaction and our communities should not only protect the victim, but also create spaces to talk about gender violence and about non-consensual pornography in particular.
- Ourselves in relation to digital technologies. Be critical about the technologies we use: know how it works, understand the business models behind it and our role in all this. We should claim control of our lives in the technology.