Revenge Porn: The Precautions and Reactions of Sending Your Nudes

Revenge Porn: The Precautions and Reactions of Sending Your Nudes

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Hey babe! I want to see you today.

Send your nudes please, pretty please?

I assume most people are no stranger to this line.

Sometimes it’s the lover and sometimes it’s just a random guy friend. In most cases, when we are dating the guy at the other end of the line, we send the photo out of love or sometimes out of fear of being ditched if we do not comply to it.

I know that sometimes our hormones rage and we give in to our sexual desires. So, whether you decide to send or not, it is up to you. Period. I am not here to teach you the right or wrong, I only want you to be vigilant before you send your nudes the next time.

You should know that things can get real when cyber pornography creeps in. What should you do when your nude pictures sent to your lover (or friend) with your consent ends up online without your consent? The world calls it the ‘Revenge Porn‘.

Revenge porn happens when you send your nude/s to your partner in that heat of the moment because you trust him with all your heart. But one day you break up, and someone wakes you from your sleep about your photo making its round online! You find out he uploaded it or sometimes, that his account simply got hacked!

The risk you are taking is unbelievable, right?

So How to Stay Out of Revenge Porn?

Caution #1: Do not Send

Prevention is better than cure. So, do not send it, be it love or obligation. If his love for you is going to be measured by your nudes, then don’t send it. If you are scared he will seek other women when you don’t send it, DO NOT SEND IT.

Tell him to see it for himself real-time and not through these digital bots.  (I still haven’t got the gist of why men desire the photo of two breasts and the vulva)

Caution #2: Never the Head

So in spite of my saying NO, you are still contemplating sending? If so, then just make sure that you do not show your face in the picture. NEVER THE FACE and anything else that will resemble you.

Like I said, who am I to judge? Just be vigilant when you decide to send the photo and are ready to face the consequences.

Caution #3: Make Your Own Rules

Sending ‘Nudes‘ doesn’t necessarily mean sending the all bared chested body to your lover. You decide what nude means to you.

Are you comfortable sending a picture with a bra on or just a provocative show of cleavage? Whichever makes you comfortable, send it. Remember, it’s all fine. Just BE IN CHARGE of your body.

Caution #4: Give After You Recieve

Well, girls, sometimes we have to be smart. If the men want your nudes, you ought to receive from him first. You need a security deposit from him.

This way, if he doesn’t keep the end of his bargain, you simply do not send yours as well. And more so, if the man knows that you have his nudes with you, he will be more cautious in his ‘revenge porn’. It is a win-win situation.

That said, sometimes, things do not go out as planned and we have to prepare ourselves for the worst.

What to Do When Your Nudes Go Online Without Your Consent?

Step #1: Preserve Evidence

As you try to curb your panicking, you must immediately take a screenshot of the photo or a PDF of the page from the website for further legal actions. Keeping this evidence with the proper time stamp will strengthen your argument.

Step #2: File an F.I.R

Alongside your panicking, you should register an F.I.R to your nearest police station under IT ACT (misuse of information) & IPC (violations of the dignity of a woman) and reach out to the cyber cell in your city.

When you avail the cyber police branch, the victim’s statement would be taken down in private by women police officers/constables who can help in filing a complaint.

If under worse circumstances the police refuse to accept your complaint (as this is India), you should immediately refer your complaint to the commissioner or judicial magistrate of the city.

Step #3: Get Your Lawyer

You need to find a lawyer who knows quite a lot about Internet Privacy. I would suggest finding a criminal lawyer with favourable expertise in IT Law with a better understanding of IT ACTS (like recent law graduates). The point is, to find a lawyer who has more knowledge on Cyber Laws.

Do note that, if the culprit is known to you then, after you file an F.I.R, the police will provide you with a legal counsel from a civil court. So, getting your own will be optional for you.

Step #4: Proceed to Take Down the Photo

Report! Report! Report! Yes. If the photo is made public on social media, you should request everyone to ‘REPORT’ it. This will make the concerned authority take it down.

When you have an assigned lawyer, you will be able to press criminal actions against the culprit or come to a  settlement agreement to take down the content. Likewise, you can also get a full ownership of the copyright to the photo where you can use this to get the owners of any website to take it down.

Know Your Law

While you file your charges against the culprit, it is important to be aware of the laws crafted out by the constitution of India for you as sentences are added based on the violations of the acts, where and how he is found guilty. Here are some that you should remember while filing your complaint of cyber pornography, cyberstalking, revenge porn etc:

So, let’s be well informed:

Information & Technology (IT) Act:

– Section 67 and 67A: Prohibits the publication and distribution of obscene and sexually explicit material respectively.  Under this act, a conviction can lead to a prison term of up to 3-5 years, a fine of up to 5-10 lakh rupees.

– Section 66E: Punishment for violation of privacy that explicitly forbids capturing, publishing or transmitting ‘the image of a private area of any person without his or her consent’.

Indian Penal Code (IPC):

– Section 354 and Section 509: Offence of outraging the modesty of a woman that includes sexual harassment, stalking, Voyeurism and assault.

– Section 354(C) of the Criminal Law (Amended) Act 2013, also known as the ‘’Voyeurism Section’’, criminalises capturing and sharing images of a woman in private space.

– Section 506: Criminal Intimidation and threat to cause death or grievous hurt

All said it is quite funny how our society shames women when their nudes surfaces or their sexual acts come into the limelight. How about men? Are their sexual genitals and actions more acceptable than that of women?

I see this as one reason why men victimize women with cyber pornography. 

4 thoughts on “Revenge Porn: The Precautions and Reactions of Sending Your Nudes

  1. Thank you so much for the nice write up. In my humble opinion, such article is the need of the hour. Bravo! You have done a great job. Keep it up. Please do more write up about the current scenarios. Looking forwards to see a new article in the days to come. Thanks for you time to read my comment.

    1. Thank you Riamei. I agree. This is so prevalent now, but we still won’t talk about it. Its an open secret that we exchange nude photos and none will ever tell us if it should be done, what the risk are and what happens if it goes online.

      Our people need to talk about this!

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