The United Kingdom launched a helpline for victims of revenge porn as part of its effort to fight the increasing problem of explicit pictures being shared on the Internet without the victim’s consent. The new service will offer support to victims, some of whom are as young as 11.


Perpetrators of revenge porn will face up to two years of jail sentence, according to a new British law that bans the distribution of a private sexual image of a person without their consent and with the intent to cause distress. However, the critics argue that the online web respects no legal jurisdiction, so the revenge porn victims face long-lasting battles with porn websites all over the globe to have embarrassing images removed. Most often, nude pictures are shared without the victim’s consent for revenge or blackmail purposes.

The new helpline will cooperate with police and websites to remove non-consensual explicit images while providing victims with free legal advice. It addition, the service will work with its peers, including Women’s Aid, the Stalking Helpline or Relate.

At the moment, there are hundreds of sites dedicated to non-consensual porn out there, and around 30 of such websites used in the United Kingdom alone. Victims are usually embarrassed to let other people know what had happened to them, and the helpline was launched to help those who need support and advice.The justice secretary also explained that the law was changed to make it clear that the porn revengers face a prison sentence.

The laws in the US also imply punishment for revenge porn. For example, a few days ago an operator of one of the revenge porn web sites was convicted of identity theft and extortion in California. This individual is now facing up to 20 years in prison after being convicted on 27 charges. The site he ran contained around 10,000 images and contact details, links to social networks profiles, and even details about victims’ places of work.

A few months ago, 43 British police forces were asked for details of reported incidents of revenge porn for the last 2 years, but only 8of them managed to provide figures. They alone revealed 149 allegations of revenge porn registered, of which 6 resulted in a police caution or charge.

Unsurprisingly, most of victims were female, and some as young as 11. Respectively,most of perpetrators were male. The recent research suggested that60% of teenagers have been asked for sexual images or videos when interacting online.

In another case, a Danish journalist became a victim of revenge porn. She took the step of posing for nude photos, which she had consented to, and then failed to have those images of herself repressed. The journalist admitted that after her personal account was hacked and the pictures stolen, some men contacted her and threatened to send the nude photos to her boss unless she sent them the rest of the images.