For a growing number of California women, the pain and fear arising from a private abusive relationship is increasingly being extended on-line for all the public to see through cyber retaliation, also known as “revenge porn.” Domestic violence prevention advocates see the posting of intimate images of women by their former partners as a growing tactic in abusive relationships.
To better protect women, who are the primary victims of this kind of cyber retaliation, I’m authoring Assembly Bill 2643 to provide victims with a clear path to a civil remedy. This bill will help reduce this type of reprehensible behavior. The bill allows victims to file with pseudonyms so they do not have to reveal their names and suffer another round of humiliation.
Last week, the bill passed the California State Assembly 75-0 and is now in the state Senate.
The bill creates a private right of action against a person who intentionally distributes a photograph, videotape or image of another, most often a woman, exposing intimate body parts of that person without his or her consent. It seeks to streamline a victim’s ability to get relief in court, including a restraining order or an injunction against the individual that is distributing the material.
I’ve built a large coalition in support of this bill, including law enforcement, women’s groups, domestic violence prevention advocates and crime victim organizations. Supporters include Attorney General Kamala Harris, the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative, California Police Chiefs Association, Democratic Activists for Women Now and the California Partnership to End Domestic Violence.
Today, lawyers representing victims in these cyber retaliation cases must argue on the grounds of invasion of privacy, intentional infliction of emotional distress and other points in their complaint. This bill is more direct and aims to help women remove the images out of the public eye as soon as possible.
Professionals in the domestic violence prevention field say batterers are using the internet as a tool to intimidate and control their victims. Many websites dedicated to showing “revenge porn” materials operate by simply hosting user-submitted images. Over half of the posts provide the victim’s full name and one in five include a phone number, according to a study conducted by the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative. University of Maryland Professor Danielle Keats Citron found that 90 percent of the victims are women. Forty-nine percent of the victims experience additional harassment or stalking after the fact.
AB 2643 will help prevent the non-consensual distribution of intimate images. The victims of this cruel and emotionally-damaging action need the legal safeguards this bill will provide.
Assemblymember Bob Wieckowski represents the 25th CA Assembly District.
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