Provincial legislation on way to crack down on revenge porn

Anti-domestic-abuse activists say they have seen an increase in so-called revenge porn or non-consensual sharing of intimate images during the pandemic, which is why Tracy Porteous welcomes B.C. legislation to crack down on the practice.

As executive director of Ending Violence B.C., Porteous is one of the activists consulting with Grace Lore, B.C.'s parliamentary secretary for gender equity, as Lore helps draft a law that could ensure abuse images are quickly removed from the internet.

The pandemic has forced people into their homes, creating isolation and vulnerability, which is increasingly preyed upon by sexual abusers, Porteous said. As a result, anti-violence activists across Canada are increasingly hearing from people who have had images of them naked posted online without their permission.

“This was happening already before COVID, but the pandemic provided the ripe climate for this to happen even more,” Porteous said. “We're hearing from advocates that ... because people are stuck at home, and those people who are predisposed to hurting other people sexually, they're acting out online because they can't act out with people in person.”

In some cases the victim has given an image of themself naked to someone, trusting them not to post it on the internet and in other cases an ex-boyfriend or spouse will threaten to post such images as a form of sexual abuse or extortion.

“The ramifications of the distribution of someone's intimate images being sent — who knows where or how broadly on the internet or to a whole group of people — it's wholly humiliating and it's super serious,” Porteous said. “It's really more common than people believe.”

Publishing intimate images without someone's knowledge is an offence under the Criminal Code but Lore said provincial legislation could give people civil recourse to ensure the images are removed from the internet and destroyed.

“Circulating or threatening to circulate intimate images without consent is a form of violence and it's a form of gender-based violence that disproportionately impacts women and girls. These (acts) have real significant consequences, traumatic and lasting effects on people's lives.”

A civil remedy could include a court order that forces the perpetrator to remove the images or compels a social media company or website to take it down. Lore said this could be a faster way for a victim to get the images taken down rather than waiting, sometimes years, for the case to wind through the criminal courts.

According to Lore's office, a national hotline called cybertip.ca reported a 58 per cent increase in the non-consensual sharing of intimate images by the start of 2021 compared to the nine-month period before April 1, 2020.

The new law could also include measures that force perpetrators to pay financial compensation.