Perceptions of Revenge Pornography and Victim Blame

The act of revenge porn occurs when someone (commonly an ex-partner) takes a sexual image and distributes it online without the consent of the individual depicted in the image. Despite new legislation to protect victims, revenge porn impacts many individuals who are faced with a culture of victim blaming similar to other acts of sexual assault. The present study used revenge porn scenarios to evaluate the degree to which individuals blame the victim and whether this is mediated by perceiving revenge porn as a betrayal. Three factors were predicted to affect perceptions of betrayal and blame: victim-perpetrator relationship length (one month or one year), the medium used for sexting (text message or Snapchat) and the perceiver’s level of trust in others. The way in which the sexual image was sent did not impact perceived breach of trust or victim blame. The length of the victim-perpetrator relationship did impact victim blame but not perceived betrayal. In line with predictions, those with higher interpersonal trust were found to show less victim blaming which was mediated by their higher perceptions of betrayal in an act of revenge porn. The findings contribute towards future education initiatives to improve outcomes for victims of revenge porn.