An unwanted, brutal, sometimes devastating dive, into the intimacy of those who have once given themselves up. Revenge porn, this phenomenon with the Anglo-Saxon name which consists in revealing sexual images of a third person, often out of desire for revenge, has once again been highlighted by the dissemination of intimate videos of the now ex-candidate. LREM at the town hall of Paris, Benjamin Griveaux.
The case of the former government spokesperson is, however, particular: the motivations seem more to do with political combat and than personal revenge, and it is not yet known to what extent the recipient of his intimate photos is involved in their disclosure. . But the result is largely the same: the privacy of the victim is revealed to everyone. In the age of social media, this formidable phenomenon has claimed many other victims. Teenagers, often, adults sometimes, women, mostly, but also some men, who have had their privacy revealed in the public square, often by a former companion, with Snapchat, Instagram or Facebook as their platform, without their n have never agreed.
Some have chosen to silence the abject, for fear of attracting even more light, to the point of sometimes killing themselves, others have preferred to denounce the actions of their executioner, so that impunity ends. They have been helped, since 2016, by the creation of the offense of “invasion of privacy of a sexual nature”, which led to 192 convictions in 2018. Testimonies.
Léa, 16: “Dozens of people saw my body”
As is often the case for victims of porn revenge, Léa's (borrowed name) nightmare begins with a breakdown. Last year, after three years of relationship, this high school student from Seine-et-Marne separates from her boyfriend. "He then circulated photos of me naked," says the teenager, forced to face the gaze of "all the people who had seen them in high school and on the bus."
A second trauma will quickly follow the first, just as violent. "A few months later, when I no longer heard of this story, I received threats from an anonymous account on Instagram and Snapchat. The unknown intimate to the young woman to send him pictures of her naked. "He threatened to distribute the photos disseminated by my ex where, of course, you could see my head, with all my Instagram subscribers," rage Léa, who decides to tell her mother everything.
They file a complaint with the police station and block the anonymous account. Four months later, the schoolgirl received a big surprise. “The police called me to tell me that they finally knew who was behind this account. He was one of my very good friends, whom I had known for years and who was in my high school! Summoned to court, the young man, she said, received a legal reminder. He still attends the same establishment as Lea.
But the consequences of this story on the adolescent's existence are important. "I get out of it all badly in my skin, I don't trust myself anymore, I feel like I was raped, because dozens of people saw my body and one used it against me, ”she says. The teenager still portrays "problems" with her body today, anxiety attacks and paranoia, "when you look at me a little too much in the street".
Moses, 20 years old: "I had sleepless nights"
It took a while for Moses, a 20-year-old student from Lyon, to put words into words about what happened to him. In 2016, a "flirt" that he never met outside of social networks broadcast "nudes" - photos of him naked - to "his entire repertoire," he says. “We exchanged daily on Snapchat. At the time I was 16, she 15. She sent me nudes and then asked for them. I was carefree of the risks and I sent him some. Moses decides one day to end this virtual relationship, but the young woman takes offense. "She said to me: Do you think you're going to get away with this?" I'm going to rotate the photos of your cock all over Paris and Lyon. "
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Threats soon to be carried out. The economics student claims to have received screenshots of exchanges including his intimate photos, addressed to members of the repertoire of this adolescent "animated by revenge". Mortified, he chooses to hide his story from his loved ones and cut all contact with her. “I had cold sweats, sleepless nights. I changed my name on Snapchat and prayed that these photos wouldn't get on someone's phone. Moses also says that he felt very isolated, that he lost confidence in him, even thinking of suicide. Making a complaint never crossed his mind: he was a minor, his parents would have been notified.
Three years later, the Lyonnais, who got closer to the Christian religion, explains that he is very careful with his exchanges on the Internet. "I will never send nudes again and I am much more vigilant about those I let in my life. Moses also advises victims of porn revenge to "cut off contact with their stalker" and, above all, to "talk to people they trust".
Camille, 18: “I was considered a slut”
“I was 13, I was in fourth. For the past five years, Camille has had to live with the trauma of having seen her privacy displayed on most of the college students' phones. "My ex, with whom I went out a month ago, posted on a private group of friends a photo of my breasts that I had sent him on Messenger," recalls the young woman, now a BTS student communication in Caen. The teenager goes even further: “He then shared it on the group of his whole class. I knew this because two college girls came to show me the photo on their phone. The consequences for Camille are devastating. “I felt lonely because I didn't want to talk to my parents and friends about it and the people at my college considered me a slut. I only heard guilty words when I was manipulated, "she describes.
Then, when she thought she had left this story behind, she caught up with her in high school, four years later. "A friend told me that my ex showed the famous photo to his comrades, when they were 17 years old," she explains. The gesture too much for Camille, who warns his parents and files a complaint against him at the gendarmerie. "He was only summoned and asked to close his Facebook account," she said. At the time, in 2017, the offense of invasion of sexual privacy was just created.
Camille remains convinced that her former boyfriend still has her intimate photo in her possession, but she has managed to distance herself. "In this image, I was a child, it is no longer me, I no longer identify with it," insists the student, who today deplores that she no longer manages to "speak of sex by message".