Bermuda reports spike in revenge porn cases among the youth
Incidents of revenge porn targeting Bermudian youth have spiked during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Kathy Lynn Simmons, the Minister of Legal Affairs and Constitutional Reform, told Members of Parliament on Wednesday that the spike is “just recently coming to light”.
“The consequence of our children involving themselves in this behaviour results in them being exposed, humiliated, embarrassed, or caused reputational damage. Undoubtedly, the stress and trauma imposed on the victims of such acts, and their families, can be far-reaching,” Simmons said in her address.
“Globally, in the gravest of cases, affected persons have contemplated, attempted or committed suicide because of the associated distress and embarrassment.”
Simmons said the Director of Public Prosecutions has been ensuring her team is “appropriately trained” to go after the perpetrators.
A team from the Department of Public Prosecutions and the Vulnerable Persons Unit will visit Cedar Bridge Academy to educate students about revenge porn, intimate and prohibited images and child abuse material.
Simmons called on Bermudians to take steps to protect the territory’s children.
Meanwhile, Simmons told parliamentarians since the Criminal Code Amendment (Non- Consensual Sharing of Intimate Images) Act 2021 came into effect on 11 June 2021, there have been a few incidents of revenge porn brought to the attention of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Laws against revenge porn were enacted in Bermuda after waves of lobbying from activists.
The Criminal Code Amendment (Non- Consensual Sharing of Intimate Images) Act 2021 makes it a crime to observe, record or distribute images or video of a person carrying out private or intimate acts or showing intimate parts of their body without their knowledge or permission.
The legislation also makes it an offence to threaten to distribute intimate images, even if such ideas do not exist.
Persons convicted of revenge porn face a prison term of up to five years.
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