New Revenge Porn Figures Highlight Alarming Upsurge
One major downside to have emerged from the social media generation is the bizarre and unacceptable practice of 'revenge porn', whereby the scorned party hops online armed with a phone full of dirty and/or compromising photos of their former flame in an attempt to embarrass and humiliate them. Sure, this happened before social networking rose to prevalence online, but now that we are all connected through such sites these images spread a lot quicker than they used to.
Back in April 2015, the government finally took proper steps to prevent this vicious form of online harassment by officially making such acts a criminal offence. Unfortunately, according to recent statistics, this seems to have done little to discourage offenders, .
Since the new law came into effect there have been over 1,200 reported cases of revenge porn, compared to just 149 allegations over a two and a half year period leading up to September 2014. That is an alarming increase, although you could attribute some of the rise to victims simply being more confident in reporting these events now that stricter laws are in place to help them. Even allowing for that, you still have to accept that without social media such crimes would be less frequent, less public and less damaging.
One figure quoted by the Independent highlighted an even more worrying issue: Of the 1,200 reported cases of revenge porn since April 2015, 191 of them involved teenagers or children aged 11-12. That's more cases than reported in total in the two and a half year run up to September 2014, all of them specifically targeting underage children.
A lot has been said about child safety online, and while all the constant advice telling parents how to raise their kids may start to get a bit tedious after a while, these figures demonstrate exactly why we still need such reminders. Within the online world children run the risk of being exposed to horrors far beyond those who grew up before such networks existed and, as terrible as it is to think, there's always some sicko out there biding their time, waiting to take advantage. While I would preach caution to all with a digital presence, as five minutes is all it takes for that one saucy snap you sent to your ex to get out and go viral, we need to take particular care to make sure our children are prepared for what they may face online, and know how to deal with it appropriately.
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| salon.com |
Since the new law came into effect there have been over 1,200 reported cases of revenge porn, compared to just 149 allegations over a two and a half year period leading up to September 2014. That is an alarming increase, although you could attribute some of the rise to victims simply being more confident in reporting these events now that stricter laws are in place to help them. Even allowing for that, you still have to accept that without social media such crimes would be less frequent, less public and less damaging.
One figure quoted by the Independent highlighted an even more worrying issue: Of the 1,200 reported cases of revenge porn since April 2015, 191 of them involved teenagers or children aged 11-12. That's more cases than reported in total in the two and a half year run up to September 2014, all of them specifically targeting underage children.
A lot has been said about child safety online, and while all the constant advice telling parents how to raise their kids may start to get a bit tedious after a while, these figures demonstrate exactly why we still need such reminders. Within the online world children run the risk of being exposed to horrors far beyond those who grew up before such networks existed and, as terrible as it is to think, there's always some sicko out there biding their time, waiting to take advantage. While I would preach caution to all with a digital presence, as five minutes is all it takes for that one saucy snap you sent to your ex to get out and go viral, we need to take particular care to make sure our children are prepared for what they may face online, and know how to deal with it appropriately.
Sam
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New Revenge Porn Figures Highlight Alarming Upsurge
Reviewed by Unknown
on
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
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Reviewed by Unknown
on
Wednesday, January 27, 2016
Rating:
Unknown
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