Revenge Porn is SO REAL.
Sending racy snaps and text messages can get the blood rushing - let's face it...we all like to showcase our inner model. Maybe you and bae make a video to spice things up, but what happens when those top secret photos or videos surface social media for everyone to see?
That’s exactly what happened to Miranda Lynwood* when her partner videotaped her without consent.
“One day after I left his house he sent me a recording. He didn’t ask if it was ok. We didn’t have a conversation about him recording me while we were having intercourse,” Miranda said.
Nonconsensual pornography, aka “revenge porn”, has been on the rise. From ages 18 to 31, 60 percent of men and women have taken a nude photo or video of themselves and sent it to someone else, according to a 2015 survey by the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative. Twenty-three percent said they were victims of revenge porn.
The stifling numbers don’t come by surprise, as a revenge porn scandal involving active and veteran members of the Marine Corps has engulfed the news media, according to Wired.com. Marines United, a secret Facebook group, circulated “nude and otherwise invasive” photos of women without their consent. In response to victims speaking out, Facebook announced earlier this month that they have new tools to prevent revenge porn from being shared on Facebook, Messenger and Instagram.
That’s great for Facebook, but what about sites where you can post anonymously, like Yeti Campus Stories? After Miranda was assured the video was deleted, a few weeks later she found out through a classmate that the video was posted on Yeti.
“I just started crying. The [classmate] said it was only five seconds, but she knew it was me because of my tattoo. I felt my world was crumbling around me,” Miranda said.
Revenge porn has its consequences, with 93 percent of people reporting significant emotional distress and 82 percent reporting difficulties going in their daily lives, according to the CCRI.
“I didn’t go to class for a week. I couldn’t show my face. I felt like everybody on campus knew,” Miranda said. “I hid my tattoo for six months.”
Although circumstances were bad, Miranda said she rose from the dark place by realizing who she was and standing confidently in that knowledge.
“I can’t let this video haunt me for the rest of my life. There are girls who have stuff way worse than me, and they’re still living. They’re still pushing on,” she said.
She was still able to learn a lesson through all the pain, and the words of her mom resounded in her mind.
“Your vagina is a sacred place. You can’t just let anyone in there. I felt like that’s what God was telling me,” she said. “My mom tells me ‘keep you head up and know your self-worth. Know that you’re a queen and never let anyone tilt your crown.”
**JustJazerai.com promised anonymity so she could openly talk about her experiences, so her name was changed.
**JustJazerai.com promised anonymity so she could openly talk about her experiences, so her name was changed.