Hello. You, sitting there one-handedly browsing the stolen photos of scores of Australian women. Yes, you. Not just the absolute shitsipper who stole the photos. But you as well, the one pathetic creep looking at them after they’ve been posted.
You are being a dick.
Stop it.
Stop being a dick.
Because whilst the person who stole the photos is undoubtedly a disgusting creep of the highest order, implicitly validating that behaviour – which, we should point out, is absolutely sexual violation – puts you directly into the same category. It is abhorrent conduct. Knock it the fuck off.
Yet again some blithering, limp-dicked scumbag has stolen the private, intimate photos of hundreds of Australian women and posted them online.
In the second such mass theft and violation in as many weeks, the photos from more than 700 women – this time from
Queensland – have been posted on an online forum. The forum – hosted in
New Zealand – contained the photos in folders marked “
Brisbane girls” and not only posted the images, but in many cases the women’s names and specific locations as well.
Queensland Police have been made aware of the leak, but state they cannot act unless someone makes a complaint.
QLD Fraud and Cyber Crime Group Detective Superintendent Brian Hay did state that people found guilty of stealing and sharing the images could be charged with using a carriage service to menace or harass, but very explicitly retreated into the standard victim prevention rhetoric that, at this point, is tiringly familiar.
“Once they lose control of course this is something that can stay in the realms of the internet, the cyber environment, for many years and come back to haunt them.”
“The other fact is once you have those sorts of photographs in your possession, they’re on your digital devices, they may may be the subject of hacking and data theft, which then can be used for extortion purposes, blackmail and other sorts of nefarious purposes.”
Meanwhile, Centre for Internet Safety director Nigel Phair warned people needed to “think twice” before taking photos in the first place, stating:
“It’s the old story, the internet never forgets.”
That is the kind of backwards, risk minimisation, victim blaming bullshit that also suggests I shouldn’t cook steak for dinner unless I want a coyote to take it off my plate.
Here’s the real 411. If you use underhanded electronic means, or emotional bullying and manipulation to maliciously steal the personal, private, intimate photos of someone else – or indeed coerce them from someone – with the express intention of distributing them online so yourself and other sad, sexless troglodytes can obtain a mild stiffy, you are being a dick. If you browse these photos willingly with the same intention, you are being a dick. And if you take the stance that photos shouldn’t be taken unless you expect them to be stolen – particularly if you hold a position of legal authority – you are just as big a part of the problem as the perpetrators themselves.
Live your own goddamned lives in peace and civility. Don’t try to play God with the lives of others.
According to Australian Institute of Family Studies, 1 in 5 women have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15. Publicly sharing intimate images is a form of electronic sexual violence if no consent was given for the distribution. If you have been affected by this story, you can receive support and advice from 1800RESPECT. You can talk via online chat, or call 1800 737 732.
Photo: Christopher Polk via Getty Images.
