In January this year, we wrote an article about the growing problem of revenge porn and ways to prevent yourself from being a victim. Recently, the media reported that private photographs of female sportswomen, including members of the England women’s football team have been circulated via WhatsApp. This is clearly very distressing for the women targeted.
As mentioned in our previous article, it is an offence to share images without the person’s authority. Please always be vigilant and be very wary of allowing someone to take sensitive images of you, even if you trust the person taking the image – circumstances may change, or the photographs may be intercepted or leaked. The best advice we can give is to refuse to have any compromising images taken of you. It’s always better to be safe than sorry!
A reminder of the steps you can take to keep revenge porn from happening to you:
1. Review your online security and privacy settings
2. Never share intimate photos with anyone – don’t post them online, on social-media, or in a private message
3. For maximum protection never take explicit images of yourself – if you wouldn’t want family, friends, or employers seeing the photo, it’s best not to take it at all
4. IF you really want to take (share) intimate photos of yourself alter them to conceal your identity – don’t include your face or any recognisable features
5. If you have children, especially teenagers, it’s important to talk to them about the risks of sharing intimate photos of themselves
6. Be aware of your surroundings, especially when at a club, party, or public event – almost everyone has a smartphone with a decent camera these days. Any picture they take, could end up online
