I’m devastated seeing all of the women speaking out about their intimate images being leaked. I feel like I don’t have any right to speak on the subject, because my experience was so different. But I’m not sure if that’s really true.

I had images of me taken & shared without my consent. My most intimate, traumatizing moments. Thousands of people have seen them. They’ll continue being shared even after I die. It’s humiliating, terrifying, & debilitating.
All of this is also true for victims of revenge porn.

The difference is that I was a child. I didn’t personally take the pictures of myself. I didn’t upload or send them anywhere. CSAM is a crime, but revenge porn is not. Society (mostly) recognizes the harm of CSAM, but not revenge porn.

Why are the two treated so differently?

Even when a girl is underage, she’s still blamed for her own abuse. “Why take those pictures? Why send them to that person?”
It’s still child pornography! Just because it’s not an infant being brutally raped doesn’t make it okay. & this comes from said brutally-raped infant.

The harm that comes from image-based sexual abuse is real, and the trauma it causes cannot be understated.
I stand in solidarity with all survivors. My DMs are open, and I want to support all of you. This may be taboo issue, but you are not alone.