British victim of ‘revenge porn’ hopes victims will dare to come out of the shadows to put an end to the phenomenon, says Sun.
Jill, a 39-year-old woman, does not hesitate to criticize the company MindGeek, behind the sites PornHub, Redtube, YouPorn and Brazzers. “Revenge porn,” pornographic videos often posted by an ex-partner to exact revenge, had devastating effects on their lives.
Jill also had the courage to report her ex-partner in 2018 after being a victim of this phenomenon. The man was sentenced to one year in prison for extortion and cyber sexual harassment. Despite everything, the victim does not know if all the videos have been deleted.
Despite her attempts, Jill never heard back from MindGeek. She fears that she can still access other videos of hers on the web.
“I want people to know that we are real people,” he said. If we remain anonymous, no one will see your face or name; You’re not actually seen as a person.”
“(MindGeek) hurts lives,” he continued. The company hurt me. I just wish more people would come forward and we could build a community together. (…) I felt so ashamed that I thought about taking my own life.”
online rape
Jill is far from the only victim.
In 2019, a missing 15-year-old girl was found after her mother was alerted. There were almost 60 videos of the teen on Pornhub while she was sexually assaulted.
Victim Rose Kalema also shared her own heartbreaking story in 2020. She told how she was raped at knifepoint when she was just 14 years old.
Rose said she felt bad when, a few months later, the video was uploaded to Pornhub and shared by her classmates, according to the BBC.
Rose Kalema did not receive a response from Pornhub until she contacted the owners through her lawyer.
Lawyers from US law firm Brown Rudnick have launched legal proceedings against MindGeek and its various affiliated companies, on behalf of 30 victims of child pornography, rape and human trafficking.