Spread of revenge porn in Italy 2020

According to a survey conducted from 2019 to 2020, nearly 13 percent of Italians respondents know a victim of revenge porn. Revenge porn is the act of sharing private sexual images or videos of a person without his/her consent, usually in an attempt to harm or punish him or her. Such pictures or videos are generally shared on specific platforms or closed groups on social media, yet can also be sent through regular texting apps. The psychological harm of such a violation can be devastating for the victim and even push the person to commit suicide.

Acting against revenge porn

Facing the frequency of such acts and the media coverage that some cases receive, the Italian government acted. From 2018 to 2019, four draft laws on criminalizing revenge porn were presented by different Italian politicians. According to a survey conducted in 2018, roughly 78 percent of Italian women and 65,5 percent of Italian men perceived such laws as a social achievement. In July 2019, a law on revenge porn was passed by the Italian parliament.

Different forms of sexual violence

Being recognized as a crime, revenge porn became a particular instance of sexual violence. Although the violence is psychological rather than physical, the potential harms are equal. In 2018, almost five thousand sexual violence cases were reported to the authorities in Italy. This figure was likely to be an underestimation as many victims of abuse do not report themselves. In the same year, a survey revealed that 77 percent of respondents in Italy believed that a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment was essential to change society.