Wagga victims of so-called “revenge porn” are being encouraged to seek help and not to suffer in silence.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
As the Office of the eSafety Commissioner launches the trial of a new online portal for reporting image-based abuse, the staff of the Wagga Women’s Health Centre have encouraged victims to come forward.
New research released by the eSafety Office reveals a significant number of Australians have experienced image-based abuse, with statistics as high as one in five for women aged 18-45, and one in four for Indigenous Australians.
Leah Anderson, the trauma specialist counsellor at the Wagga Women’s Health Centre, encouraged women to “walk through the door” and speak to staff.
“This space is about what you need,” Ms Anderson said.
“It’s very much an individual space.”
Ms Anderson said image-based abuse was a relatively new crime, so there was not a great deal of research around the issue.
“It will only be as people come forward – just as they did with domestic violence and child sexual abuse – that we can continue to work out the best way to deal with it,” she said.
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said research showed victims’ intimate images were most commonly shared without consent on popular social media sites.
Facebook and its Messenger accounted for 53 per cent, followed by Snapchat at 11 per cent and then Instagram at four per cent. Text messaging and MMS were other common channels for distribution.
“This is a world-first government-led initiative, empowering Australians who experience this insidious form of abuse with practical information and a range of options to help resolve their situation and relieve their distress,” Ms Inman Grant.
“Australians will be able to report intimate images or videos that have been shared without their consent directly through to our portal. We will work with social media providers, websites and search engines to help facilitate the removal of the image-based abuse,” says Ms Inman Grant.
While research revealed that image-based abuse had severe impacts on victims’ mental health and physical well-being, only one in four took action to resolve the issue, with 22 per cent indicating they did not know what to do, she said.
“Understanding that Australians reporting to us are likely to be in distress, the portal provides clear and concise information about the steps victims can take to reduce the impact of the abuse, in an easy and intuitive way,” Ms Inman Grant said.
