England and Wales Report Nearly 200 Alleged Victims of Revenge Porn in the Past Six Months

England and Wales made revenge porn illegal in February of this year.

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At least 175 cases of revenge porn have been reported to local authorities in England and Wales in the past six months alone, including victims as young as 12. This striking figure is based on what is being described as "the largest collection of official figures to date," according to the Guardian. Obtained via the Freedom of Information Act, this number is likely just the initial indicator of a very widespread problem for not only England and Wales, but the rest of the world.

In February of this year, both regions passed a new law effectively making revenge porn an illegal and strongly punishable activity. The nearly 200 victims, which is likely a very conservative estimate given the fact that the figures are only drawn from "just over a third" of police forces in the area, started coming forward in April. 

"This huge increase in recording of ‘revenge pornography’ cases by the police is striking," Sarah Green, director of the campaign group End Violence Against Women, tells the Guardian. "We have to ask why this behavior is apparently widespread. It is not casual. It is calculated behavior intended to harm." Thus far, the 175 reported cases reveal victims between the ages of 12 and 58, with the "vast majority" of cases centered on the sharing of explicit pictures of female victims by their former male partners.

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