Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a bill into law this week criminalizing the spread of nonconsensual pornography, making New York the forty-sixth state to implement such protections for its residents. Unlike many “revenge porn” laws before it, New York’s version includes private right of action in addition to criminal penalties, allowing victims take additional steps like suing the perpetrator for money, or demanding that a website take down their illegally shared images. It’s undoubtedly progress—but also an object lesson in how US legislators fail to fully understand the problem they’re trying to solve.
Sharing another person’s private nude images online is now a Class A misdemeanor in New York. Victims will also be able to obtain an order of protection, and file for workplace harassment if the offender is a colleague. “This law should put pervs on notice,” says Carrie Goldberg, founder of victim’s rights law firm C.A. Goldberg, which championed the bill. “The gavel will come down hard on anybody foul enough to take somebody else’s sexual autonomy into their own hands.”
For victims of nonconsensual pornography, the vast majority of whom are women, any law that provides means of legal recourse will come as good news. As governor Cuomo said in a statement, “our laws have not kept pace with technology and how abusers can use it to harass, intimidate, and humiliate intimate partners.” Anti-revenge porn activists like Badass are rightfully celebrating New York’s progress. Still, even to people deeply involved in the bill’s development, it represents only a partial victory.
The law is overdue ..
Support the originator by clicking the read the rest link below.
