‘Revenge porn’ victims can now report images shared without their consent online

Another step forward.

In a bid to combat image based sexual abuse or so-called 'revenge porn', a new system is being put in place by the Department of Justice. The new portal will allow for anyone who has images or videos shared online without their consent to report them and get help in having them removed. The campaign is being launched by the Department of Justice, they are aiming to bring it to people's attention that sharing intimate pictures without someone's consent is a form of abuse. This campaign will allow victims of this to have their content removed through hotline.ie/report. The campaign is also hoping to remind everyone that there are now also laws in place and if convicted of sharing images without consent like this, you could face up to seven years in prison. Known as Coco's law, the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act was brought in on February 10th of this year and created new offences that make it a criminal act to share non-consensual intimate images. Minister of State for Civil and Criminal Justice Hildegarde Naughton said that there are no excuses for sharing these types of intimate images or threatening to share them. "If you share an intimate image without consent, you share in the abuse and there is legislation in place with appropriate punitive measures that will challenge the actions of these abusers," she said. Research commissioned by the Department of Justice found that one in 20 adults have had intimate images shared without their consent, with one in 10 among 18 to 24 year olds and 25 to 37 year olds. The campaign looks "to challenge the narrative that places some or all of the blame on the victim", and will be feature on social media platforms. The Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017, which was signed into law by President Michael D Higgins last year, but commenced in February. The offence carries a penalty of up to €5,000 and/or up to 12 months imprisonment but could be much longer. Informally named 'Coco's Law', the legislation criminalises image-based sexual abuse and other forms of online abuse in Ireland. The law is named after Nicole Fox Fenlon, a 21-year-old woman who died by suicide in 2018 after being cyber-bullied.