Molly Reynolds speaks to CBC on survivors of revenge porn and other privacy abuse

Counsel and privacy expert Molly Reynolds sat down with CBC to discuss the courage of one survivor of privacy violation in sharing her story to help others who have been subjected to revenge porn and other forms of privacy abuse.

The article discusses how one victim continues to live her life after intimate images of her were distributed without her consent and how she is using this experience to empower other women. Molly shares some of her experience as a litigator dealing with similar civil cases and states that “clients are often concerned that they may be retraumatized or shamed in civil or criminal cases having to do with the publication of intimate images without consent.”

Molly, who has worked on revenge porn and other privacy-related sexual misconduct cases, commends the bravery of the victim on deciding to be associated with this type of misconduct.

“There is so much power in deciding to put your name and your face beside this type of case and to stand up and say, ‘I was wronged and this may be something that is embarrassing, but it's only embarrassing because of what that defendant has done to me and the fact that they have tried to humiliate me.’”

The victim has started a group called the Shameless Circle to provide support for other victims of domestic violence and similar online sexual shaming. Molly states that support groups like Shameless Circle have the potential to make a positive impact beyond their core goal of giving emotional support to survivors.

“This could actually be a source of really good evidence about the variety of shared experiences of victims, and can really help people who may not be able, in an individual case, to prove a particular type of harm, by showing what types of general harm most individuals who have been the victim of this have gone through,” she said.

For more information on our work in privacy see the relevant practice page.