Revenge porn: Never-ending cycle of pain

Jun 27, 2022 | News On Japan

Jun 27, 2022 (NHK) - A Japanese woman in her 20s considered taking her own life when she became a victim of revenge porn. The term refers to intimate images or videos of a person shared without consent.

It has been illegal in Japan since 2014, but her story shows it's nearly impossible to stop such images circulating once they're online.

For Tamura (not her real name), the nightmare started last March with a message. An anonymous individual contacted her out of the blue, saying a video of a naked woman on the internet appeared to be her.

Her stomach sank. Shocked and anxious, she scoured the internet and soon found what she had been dreading: explicit videos of herself on a pornography site.

Tamura instantly knew where the images came from – a partner she had broken up with.

Her diary conveys the horror she felt:

"It doesn't seem real. My hands keep trembling and my heart won't stop pounding. I'm cold – even though it's a warm day."

Tamura first met him about four years ago when she moved to Tokyo for a new job. The man had a large social circle and seemed trustworthy. They started hanging out – but he soon began pushing for a physical relationship that she didn't want.

She says she became worn down by his constant advances, and ultimately came under his control. He made the relationship sexual, even pressing her to have intercourse in public.

It wasn't long before she noticed that he was taking videos of her during sex.

"I said 'No,' but he insisted. He said he wants my video instead of a porno film. I had become so dependent on him that I felt I had to do as he pleased."

Tamura decided that she had to end the abusive relationship when the man violently kicked her, leaving severe bruises.

And when she met him for the last time, she made sure he deleted all of the images he had taken of her during sex.

"I asked him whether he had deleted all of the videos," she says. "I even had him remove them in front of me, and checked that his 'deleted item' folder was cleared as well."

But he had secretly kept copies of the images elsewhere. ...continue reading

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