"Revenge porn" involves sexually explicit images of a person being uploaded online without their consent, usually by an ex-partner as a way to "punish" someone for ending a relationship. Often these images are accompanied by the personal details of the victim, putting them in huge danger. Once the images out there it is almost impossible to remove them, and they can be seen by anyone. 

In countries such as Israel, revenge porn is rightly classified as a sex crime (and the punishment reflects the nature of the crime) and other countries such as Brazil are beginning to introduce anti-revenge porn legislation.

Unfortunately, there are currently no laws against revenge porn in the United Kingdom. We believe that the British government should be introducing laws to protect people from what is undoubtedly a horrific violation of trust and privacy.

Without such laws in place, the perpetrators can continue to humiliate their partners (or people they don't even know) on an almost global scale without ever having to face any consequences for it. It is grossly unfair that the mental and physical consequences of "revenge porn" only exist for the victims, who have to deal not only with someone betraying their ultimate trust, but with the fact that it was done for the world to see. 

Revenge porn is yet another tactic on a long list of ways to degrade women and teach them their bodies are not their own- the people viewing these images enjoy the fact that they are posted without consent, and are essentially telling women that whether or not they have given full consent in sexual contexts is completely irrelevant. This is not about sex, this is about control.   

If the perpetrators of this crime in the UK are allowed to continue to get away with it we will simply be perpetuating a culture that takes pleasure in the non-consent and humiliation of others, especially women, and allowing them to think that this is acceptable. We have allowed it to continue for far too long, and it's time to put a stop to it.