Revenge Porn is an offense and it is also increasing at an alarming rate in recent years. This offense starts with the propagation of sexually explicit photos of the victim with an attempt to abuse him/her online. What if you open an email one day and find your private images attached with? And not only this, this anonymous person also sends similar pictures or videos to other people around.
This is now commonly happening with children and particularly those who are under 19. As per BBC, in 2015, there were 1,160 reported incidents of revenge pornography from April 2015 to December 2015. Three of the victims were 11 years old with some 30% of offenses involving young people under 19. This is grave and raises serious concerns about your children’s cyber security and how they interact with people.
[Source: http://www.bbc.com]
This is highly likely that your child in his innocence starts sharing pictures or stuff with someone who can misuse it. In that case, you should be vigilant enough as a parent to know who they interact with and how. As most of the communication and sharing take place through social media, it is necessary to consider that online channels propagate these intentions and exploit your children. Now it could be anyone, your child’s friend who has recently turned a foe, an anonymous lover or a sexual predator.
The Reasons behind Revenge Porn
There are many reasons behind revenge porn. Some of the major ones are breakups or settling the score for a small school or college plight among students. Whatever they are, they have serious consequences for the victim.
Usually, people think taking revenge porn as crime is taking a personal matter too seriously, but this mounting act on social media platforms is urging the lawmakers to think otherwise. Nearly 26 states of US report revenge porn as crime and there are legal penalties for this offense.
The hardest Job
The revenge porn victims sometimes fail to identify who is their enemy and does not report the attacker themselves. Firstly, it is not necessary that the one who spread your private photos is your ex-boyfriend or a school bully. What if someone takes advantage of the situation and does the same? Secondly, some people hack others’ account and do these things in the name of fun by using others name. Thirdly and lastly, the accumulation of evidence is very crucial in revenge porn: who posted the photos first, the date and time, and the log of where these images are sent etc.?
Despite the awareness of laws on revenge porn, many people do not take it seriously and believe these are out of personal matters. We feel this is not the case. Revenge porn is becoming mainstream where people spread others’ nude photos online without their permission.
How can Parents help to fight back?
The victims of revenge porn suffer serious emotional distress. Especially the young and the teenagers try to commit suicide after these incidents. In order to stop the menace of revenge porn, parents need to be very cautious of their kid’s activities and interests. Here are few tips to fight back:
Know your kid closely:
The digital age has made us distant from our kids. If our child especially female is emotionally stressed out, we should, as a parent, try to figure out the reason behind the depression. This could be a breakup which has ended up in revenge porn where she is being exploited for sharing photos with her boyfriend. It is our duty to keep track of who they meet and when and what is causing them emotional stress. Also, teens and young people also suffer sexual exploitation at the hand of sexual predators and get trapped once they share any personal photo. Therefore, you should keep the check on your kid’s life and know them closely. Only if you know them closely, you can warn them who is who and what should be done in the case of they are being sexually harmed.
Use Monitoring apps:
As we have little time to stay close and know our kids 24/7, we can take help of monitoring apps. The kids spend most of their time on gadgets, so it is easy for you to know who is harassing them. The Monitoring apps not only limit your kid’s screen time but also help to block apps which are accessible to sexual predators. You can track what is happening on his/her Instant Messaging Apps or if he is trying to hide something out of shame.
You as a parent can take legal action to such acts by informing the school or giving any potential evidence to law enforcement. You can also track the location of the kid in case he is being extorted by someone for revenge porn and is asked to meet somewhere. The location tracking helps you to monitor your child’s current location whenever there is such activity.
This will help you as a parent to fight back and take your kid in confidence and help them how to deal in the case of sextortion.
Build Self-Esteem and Confidence:
Once your kid suffers revenge porn, he/she might be devastated. The best is to build their confidence. Do not curse or scold them. Let them believe that you stand by them no matter what and will help them in any jeopardy. Do not make them think that this act brought defame to the family as well as it lowers their esteem. The best way for you as a parent to fight back is to build self-confidence after such incidents.
Get Professional Help:
In case your child has suicidal thoughts get professional help. Consult a psychologist on how to deal with a kid who is a victim of an online abuse like revenge porn. Professionals will also let you know about how to deal and if there is a need of medicine in the case of deep depression.
A Final Thought:
It is better to keep your child informed side by side and tell them not to share things which are personal to anybody so they might not get trapped in the first place.