Having represented victims of revenge porn like Chrissy Chambers, Ann Olivarius is highly familiar with this new crime-and with the ways, we can stop it. Often when people hear about revenge porn cases, their gut reaction is: “Why would anyone send nude photos? They should have known this was coming!” Digital communications, however, are a fundamental part of modern communications. Instead of blaming victims, we need to find ways to reshape our culture to emphasise consent and sexual autonomy on the internet. Revenge porn is a modern form of sexual violence that aims to give men control over women’s bodies and images. It is a hate crime for the era of mass media and is enabled by an audience that finds pleasure in others’ shame. So, in addition to prosecuting individual perpetrators, we need to find ways to go after the distributors and spreaders of revenge porn content. Only by addressing the phenomenon as a whole can we make the internet a safer place.
Revenge porn is a modern form of sexual violence that aims to give men control over women’s bodies and images. It is a hate crime for the era of mass media and is enabled by an audience that finds pleasure in others’ shame. In addition to prosecuting individual perpetrators, we need to find ways to go after the distributors and spreaders of revenge porn content. Only by addressing the phenomenon as a whole can we make the internet a safer place. -- As a Rhodes Scholar, she wrote a prize-winning doctorate in Economics at Oxford University, before becoming the first person to complete degrees from both the Yale School of Management and Yale Law School. Dr Olivarius has managed complex legal matters for over 25 years, focusing particularly on women’s rights issues. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx