YouTubers Fight To End Revenge Porn
Over the last week, YouTubers Bria Kam and Chrissy Chambers have been in the UK pursuing legal action against a British national. The accused is a former partner of Chambers (24) who is charged with having made and distributed revenge pornography in which Chambers (aged 18 at the time) is featured.
For those not aware of the term, revenge porn refers to explicit materials published or distributed without the consent of the persons featured, made available with malicious intent, that is, with a view to cause emotional distress to those persons featured.
Before I continue I must disclose my bias. I am a subscriber to both channels the couple host (BriaAndChrissy & Our Lesbian Love) and have published articles on the work twice on The Arcade (a Music Monday and an interview respectively). While I acknowledge my connection to the people involved in the matter, I do not think it impedes my judgement on it.
In brief, Chambers fell in love with her ex when she was 18 years old. After about a year together, she suggested they take a break. He took this badly and suggested that they have a night of drinking. During the course of the evening, Chambers became heavily intoxicated and passed out. Having remained far more sober than Chambers, he proceeded to have sex with her and film it. Both the act and the filming were done without Chambers’ knowledge and therefore without her consent. Chambers has displayed remarkable candour and fortitude when recounting her experiences, on both her own channel and on What’s Trending.
Years later, after Chambers fell in love with her current partner Bria Kam, her former partner uploaded this footage to the internet. Ultimately, these videos were distributed across 35 websites. One struggles to imagine the emotional cost of such an event, yet measuring the impact of their online business is equally difficult to chart. When the footage of Chambers was discovered many fans, having lost respect for her and branding her a slut, unsubscribed from their YouTube channel(s). The loss of income has been huge.
In response to their personal tragedy, Kam and Chambers are pursuing legal action.
Writing for The Guardian, journalist and filmmaker Jenny Kleeman explains that Chambers is bringing, “Both a civil action for damages and the criminal prosecution of a former partner she accuses of posting revenge pornography of her on the internet.”
Kleeman explains that rape cases are hard won “when alcohol is a factor”. It is made more difficult by the fact that the videos of Chambers were posted several years ago and are therefore not covered by the UK’s revenge porn law. Leading Chambers’ legal team is Ann Olivarius, who was part of the legal team that coined the term ‘date rape’. She explains that the charges for civil damages are crucial, “You have to be able to go after money damages in a civil context to be able to try to stop this problem. Money is the currency of how we achieve justice; that’s the measurement.” Olivarius outlines further legal complications in The Independent, including issues of intention.
As well as bringing charges in the UK, Chambers is also pursuing changes to the federal law in the US. Currently there are no national laws covering revenge porn in the US. Moreover, in those few states where there are laws in place they are often inadequate. Therefore, Chambers is pushing for national laws recognising revenge porn as a serious crime. To do this, she has joined forces with with a US Representative and has started a petition on change.org.
It is impossible not to be enamored by these women. Silence is the norm with sex crimes owing to the public shame. Indeed, the challenges of the law is matched only by those of culture, as demonstrated by the loss of fans/ subscribers due to the availability of such content. Recently, Jaclyn Glenn (a fellow YouTuber and a personal friend of the couple) made a series of videos addressing the word ‘slut’ and the issue of slut shaming. In the course of these videos, it becomes apparent that ‘slut’ is by and large a vestigial word; it is not so much connected to specific activity, so much as it is a repository into which people pour their personal malices and misgivings about sex. The bitter irony is that Kam’s and Chambers‘ platforms are a well-spring of positive and sex-positive information. Those who shunned them for their misfortunes are the very people who would have most dearly profited from their output.
More than this, Chambers‘ battle goes to demonstrate the issues of the law as it pertains to technology. As we grow more technologically advanced at greater speeds, the law struggles to keep pace. While progress should not be unduly inhibited, it does call for greater vigilance of the world’s lawmakers. The evil doings of her former partner or any revenge pornographer notwithstanding, it is clear that current laws fall short of present needs.
For more information on revenge porn see The Huffington Post FAQs. To sign the change.org petition click here.
What do you make of Chambers‘ fight? What are your opinions of revenge porn? What do you think about the problems the law has with keeping abreast of technology? Let us know in the comments below.
