When we talk about Revenge Porn, we immediately think of an emotional reaction: the anger of a former partner, perhaps betrayed, which for revenge spreads intimate images. But psychology, the one who works on real data and testimonies, tells us another truth. It is not the broken heart that guides this type of violence. It is the need for power.
Those who spread sexually explicit photos or videos without the consent of the other person do not want to hurt, want to control. He wants to reaffirm his role, his domain, even when the relationship is over. And it does so in the most invasive way: exposing the other person’s body, often a woman, stripping it not only in the physical sense, but also of identity and dignity.
The science that proves it
A review published on Frontiers in Psychology In 2025 he analyzed 12 studies on young people between 10 and 24 years old. The results are clear:
The authors point out that the effects of theimage-based sexual abuse (Ibssa) are comparable to those of offline sexual abuse. It is not a “minor digital” problem, but a form of real violence.
Another study, signed by the psychologists Asia Eaton and Clare McGlynn (2020), shows that the so -called “nonconsensual porn” must be read as gender sexual violence. Not only revenge: motivations include the search for gratification, the need to reaffirm their virility in front of other men, the desire for control.
The digital pack
Almost never the diffusion remains private. The images circulate in group chat, forum, social media. This is where the Revenge Porn also becomes a collective act: those who share seek the recognition of other men. Likes, comments, implicit applause are an integral part of the gesture.
It is not injured love, it is the cancellation of the victim
The crucial difference that emerges from the studies is this: in the Revenge Porn the woman is not attacked to hurt her, but because she is no longer perceived as a person capable of feeling pain. It is a thin but devastating psychological step.
In “classic” violence there is however a relationship, however toxic: the attacker wants to hurt, humiliate, take revenge. Here, however, the bond is completely broken. There is no “you” to contact. There is only one body to exhibit, an image to be manipulated.
In other words, the victim is not recognized as a subject, but reduced to object function. A bit like breaking a glass: you don’t do it to hurt the glass – which cannot try anything – but to reaffirm a gesture of power on an object without value. Psychology calls this mechanism inhumanization: the refusal, even unconscious, to attribute to the other thoughts, emotions and dignity.
The studies of Eaton and McGlynn show that many dynamics of the NonConsensual Porn respond precisely to this logic: it is not an individual revenge, but a way of reaffirming domain. It is the implicit message that comes to the victim: “You don’t count, your suffering is not relevant, I decide to your body even without you”.
This explains why so many survivors speak not only of pain, but of a feeling of disappearance of oneself: as if their identity had been canceled, leaving only a sexualized representation that no longer control. It is a form of violence that does not affect “against”, but that denies the existence of the person himself.
In Italy it is a crime
Since 2019, the Revenge Porn is punished by article 612-ter of the penal code, introduced with the “red code”. Those who spread or threaten to spread intimate images without consent risk from one to six years in prison and fines up to 15,000 euros. The penalties are more serious if the fact concerns a former partner.
What to do if it happens:
A culture to change
Studies report a recurring problem: Victim-Blaming. “If you took the photo, it’s your fault” is the phrase that many women feel like addressing. But consent to shoot or send is not a consensus to spread.
The cultural knot is here: to move the gaze from the victim’s behavior to the act of the perpetrator. The photo is not the photo, but the violent use that makes it.
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