‘CONSENT APPLIES BEHIND A SCREEN TOO’: UCLA STUDENTS FIGHT ONLINE SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Daily Mail

Clemence Michallon

2/16/2017

A group of UCLA students has launched a campaign against those who share unwanted nude pictures on social media, saying it is as harmful form as any other form of abuse when done without consent.

The Bruin Consent Coalition, which seeks to prevent sexual violence on campus, released a series of posters earlier this week as part of its new #LetsPictureConsent movement.

The posters showcase a series of conversations on several social media platforms, during which one of the users crosses a line by sending – or saving – an intimate photo without permission.

With the campaign, the Bruin Consent Coalition – which partnered with human rights organization Breakthrough – hopes to change the way people think about unsolicited nudes.

‘We often hear people suggesting that the practice of spreading intimate photos is “harmless” or less “real” than any other form of abuse. But when abuse, humiliation, and harassment happen online they are still abuse, humiliation, and harassment,’ the coalition wrote in a statement.

‘You’ve probably also heard “boys will be boys” or that women shouldn’t take photos if they don’t want them to be shared publicly when this happens.

‘But–as you’ll see this from this campaign–non-consensual photo sharing is not just about male perpetrators and female victims. Limited narratives like this are harmful and reductive.’

Breakthrough, which collaborated with the UCLA students for the campaign, explained in more detail on its website why sharing nude pics without consent constitutes abuse.

Find the original article here