Benjamin Griveaux, the former spokesperson for the French government, has announced that he is giving up running for mayor of Paris. In question: the dissemination on the internet of a sexual video staging it. Is “porn revenge” punishable in Belgium? What do broadcasters incur? A bill is on the table.
What is porn revenge?
Revenge porn, or pornodivulgation in French, consists of uploading intimate photos or videos without the consent of the persons concerned in order to make it a form of “revenge”.
Most of the “revenge porn” images are photos or selfies that were taken by the victims themselves and are uploaded by an ex-partner or by a hacker. The latter then require a sum of money to remove the exposed content.
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Who are the victims?
It is estimated that 90% of victims of pornography are women. Often teenage girls who, following the publication of their intimate contents, are ostracized, cyber-harassed and sometimes pushed to suicide.
“Ten years ago, we processed one file a year“, explains Etienne Wéry, lawyer who defends victims of” Revenge porn “.”Today, it’s 15 files per year. In 80% of my files, they are people who are under 18 years old. Sometimes it goes very low: 13.14 years. A common denominator among victims is suffering. These women regularly tell me about rape. It’s a rape of privacy but they experience it as rape. As for the aggressors, it is either anger or unconsciousness. “
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What sanctions?
In France, since the adoption of the law “for a digital Republic” in 2016, the dissemination of “revenge porn” is punishable by 2 years’ imprisonment and a fine of 60,000 euros. But what about with us?
In Belgium, a bill is on the table. It’s VAnessa Matz, CDH MP, who is at the origin. “The first objective of the law is to punish the dissemination of sexual images – when there is no consent of the person concerned – with prison terms of up to 5 years and very large fines. We wanted to target all phenomena. Not only revenge but other types of motives that might exist. The second objective, which is most important for the victims, is to organize an extremely rapid procedure for the removal of harmful images.“.
The summary procedure should last 6 hours via the president of the court of first instance. 6 hours to remove the images under penalty of criminal sanctions for those (author, broadcasters, or operators) who do not comply.
The proposal will be voted on Thursday in the justice committee.
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Not the most suitable criminal
For Mr. Wery, this law is not the right option. “I believe that the criminal response is not necessarily the best, especially for minors. And even compared to adults, to say that we are going to pay more fines is not going to stop the angry or excited man who is angry with his former partner. In this context, increasing the penalties, I do not think that will change much.
And then, above all, we forget that in most of these cases, we are dealing with kids. Do we deal with cases like these with such a massive criminal weapon? I don’t think it’s effective. I believe more in education, awareness in schools and the awareness on the part of the executioner who made a big mistake.“
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February 14, 2020, Benjamin Griveaux withdrew his candidacy for mayor of Paris
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