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Real stories

Image-based abuse is more common than you might think.

Many Australians have experienced image-based abuse – it affects people regardless of their age, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, education or bank balance. If it happens to you, you’re not alone.

It doesn’t matter whether the person in the image agreed to the image being taken in the first place. If the image is shared without the consent of the person shown in it, it is image-based abuse.

Examples of image-based abuse include:

A current or ex-partner shares an intimate image on social media without your consent.
You send your intimate image to a friend or acquaintance and that person posts it online without your consent.
A work colleague Photoshops an image of you making it look like it is an explicit image of you and shares it broadly via email.
A violent or abusive partner posts explicit images online to further hurt or humiliate you.
A person threatens to share an intimate image if you do not give them money, perform a sexual act or provide more images.

People like you

The following real life stories show how far reaching image-based abuse (also known as ‘revenge porn’) is in Australia. These stories show the suffering image-based abuse can cause and the steps that victims have taken to deal with it.

All names and other personal information in these stories have been changed to protect the person who was abused.

Anna met her boyfriend Adam at work they grew closer working together on a project that involved long hours.

Ariba met Simon at university and even though they were very different, they loved spending time together.

Emily was a 17-year-old student when she shared three nude photos with a boy she knew through a friend.

Kate had been dating Lachlan for three years. He was her first boyfriend and they were totally in love.

I had been with my partner for two years before I discovered she was cheating. We argued a lot and eventually split up.

It all started with someone messaging me on Grindr. It was a completely normal chat at first.

Greg and I had been together for five years, but when he became violent and abusive and I got help to leave and start a new life.

Michael was in his 40s when he first tried online dating. He was amazed at how many interesting women he could meet online.

Min-jun recently moved to Australia as part of his university degree. He liked his studies, making friends was hard, dating even harder.

Growing up in regional Victoria, I didn’t know any openly gay guys in my town. It was pretty isolating.

I was in my 20s when I met my dream man. I had come out of a long relationship and was happy to find someone who cared for me again.

Steven had been going out with Sean for six months. Things were going well, they had fun together and so one night they took a few intimate pictures.

Last updated: 17/09/2023

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