Originally published at: Revenge porn to be punishable by up to 6 years in prison | Boing Boing
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Image based sexual abuse please rather than the term in your headline.
Law here in Ireland too. Movement gathering steam.
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There still remains the huge problem of misogyny and toxic masculinity in Mexican culture. There needs to be so much work towards teaching people about this.
Of course, it’s a big problem all over the globe, also.
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Yeah. We need to have a public conversation about ethically sourced porn.
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What good does that kind of prison time do? Do you think people will decide “Oh, I will just get six years in prison, then I can just go ahead and publish”? Filling up prisons like some countries do doesn’t help, it just creates a large group of people who afterwards are unable to get back to ordinary life.
A just as large problem are all the people who watch that revenge porn and decide it somehow is the fault of the woman. That’s what makes it possible as revenge. If people just shrugged and said that “OK, she had sex like everyone else and her ex turned out to be an asshole”, what would be the point?
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Why is it problematic? Serious question, not defending it. Your preferred term seems less ambiguous.
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Porn is a thing, kink, which people get off on. Within all the kinks people get off on consensually are lots of performances which if they were in normal life would be horrible crimes. What this is referring to is non consensual, and an abusive act. Locally activists prefer the description “image based sexual abuse” as a more accurate umbrella term for non consensual sharing of sexual images.
And having listened i agree.
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Deferring yet again to my ultra-cynical alter ego, Skeptic-owl, I have to wonder if this law could end up protecting the rich and powerful; think Mexican version of Trump pee-tape… or even rape?
This hed doesn’t make much sense without the word Mexico in it.
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Because this isn’t a victimless crime? Unlike some poor schmuck put away for three years for smoking a doobie in his basement, revenge porn is meant to harm, humiliate, and damage the victim. It’s a form of assault, and disproportionately affects women, who are usually blamed, shamed, and ostracized for the porn getting out in the wild.
Two consenting adults publishing their sex life on a porn site for others to watch? Meh. Some twerp publishing nudes of someone to get revenge and punish them? Fuck that with stinging nettles.
A just as large problem are all the people who watch that revenge porn and decide it somehow is the fault of the woman.
Agreed. But it isn’t just a supply and demand problem. Even if people shrugged and said “so? She had sex and has lady-parts”, revenge porn would still be published, and it is still violating the victim. It’s a loss of control over the most intimate part of one’s life. It’s a violent act, even if it doesn’t cause physical harm.
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How did Matt Gaetz get elected to Mexico’s Congreso de la Unión? /s
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The point would be that it’s non-consensual irrespective of the stigma, which I whole-heartedly agree shouldn’t exist.
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Way to go, Mexico! I hope the neighbors to the north are taking notes.
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I agree that it should be a crime. It’s a violation of privacy and the law sends a signal that it’s the person who publish who is the culprit. I just happen to be from Sweden and we have a slightly different view on incarceration times. Other countries don’t lock up nearly as many people for nearly as long as USA. What does six year in prison accomplish that a few months doesn’t for this kind of crime?
You say it should be punished harder than a victimless drug crime, but have you considered that the problem is that drug crimes are treated far too harshly, not the other way round?
Finally, you might consider what it costs to lock someone up for six years, and where that money is supposed to come from. Cut down on schools and health care so you can afford more prisons?
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The key word here is “up to” six years. That is the maximum possible penalty under the law, but does not represent what will actually happen with the average offender (and in particular first-time offenders).
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The key words here, what I originally replied to, is Papasan’s comment “Not long enough if you ask me.” about those six years.
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What would you consider to be a reasonable punishment for revenge porn, then?
Actually, I do believe drug crimes are punished too harshly. As my dad (a prosecuting attorney) use to say, mandatory drug sentencing is the worse thing to happen to the US criminal justice system. It creates an incarceration state, exposes otherwise harmless individuals to violent or professional criminals, and doesn’t address the underlying substance abuse problem. It is actually more expensive to incarcerate a non-violent drug user than it is to send them to rehab, or address the underlying socio-economic conditions that can lead to substance abuse. If drug use has to be punished, then a fine of $50 and mandatory (state funded) rehab would be more appropriate.
As for punishing revenge porn, since i consider it a violent act on par with assault or rape, I think the same level of punishment would be appropriate.
Finally, I agree that many of funds spent of incarceration could be better used for education or social programs. It’s a difficult balance to maintain: there will be a need to incarcerate violent or serial offenders, but incarceration isn’t the best solution to all problems. I think ending for-profit prisons in the US would be a good start, as it creates perverse incentives toward criminal justice.
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Headlines like these should clarify where they’re talking about, but it’s a refreshing change to have an article which assumes you know where it’s talking about, and it’s talking about Mexico, rather that the other united states.
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