A police officer-turned-politician has fought back tears while describing how strange men turned up at the door of a mother after her face was photoshopped onto a pornographic image.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Member for Macalister Melissa McMahon said the fake image was posted online with the Queensland woman's name, address and contact details as well as directions about how to approach her.
These included: "Don't knock, just come in. She loves to be tortured and raped."
"Sure enough, men came to her home and knocked on her door, even when she had her three-month-old child with her," Ms McMahon said.
Ms McMahon said after "years of putting up with this behaviour", the perpetrator was eventually found and charged with stalking because it was the only offence available to police.
But victims will now have another weapon to fight back, with the Palaszczuk government's "revenge porn" laws passing on Wednesday.
"Today I say to that victim that I can only hope the action we take here in this House today will mean that future victims will have quicker police investigations and appropriate judicial resources," Ms McMahon said.
The laws will make sharing or threatening to share an intimate image without consent illegal, with jail sentences of up to three years.
Courts will also be able to order offenders to take reasonable action to remove or delete images or videos.
Ms McMahon said women's lives had been irrevocably changed because of intimate images shared online.
"One woman continued to experience difficulty seeking employment because she had chosen to seek justice when her ex went online with intimate photos," she said.
"Now potential employers see her name linked to revenge porn sites.
"Believe me, the internet still has plenty of dark places where intimate images are the stock-in-trade for people who are deliberately looking to generate humiliation and harassment for ex-partners."
Attorney-General Yvette D'Ath said the term "revenge porn" was problematic because it labelled the images as pornographic, whether or not they were made for the purposes of sexual gratification.
"Some would also argue that the term "revenge" implies wrongdoing on behalf of the victim, which may reinforce victim-blaming attitudes," she said.
Ms D'Ath said sharing images might be a form of sexual abuse or domestic violence or done for "amusement" with callous disregard for the victim.
"The distribution can be humiliating and distressing for those depicted, regardless of how an image was created or obtained, or the motivation for sharing an image," she said.
Shadow Attorney-General David Janetzki said there was a risk of children under 16 potentially facing charges for sending sexualised photos of themselves.
But Ms D'Ath said the bill was not about criminalising children.
Mr Janetzki said there would also be a difficulty in prosecuting people who anonymously uploaded images or videos and there were concerns about whether it would apply to people living outside Queensland.
"The bill only has prospective application, and offenders will only face prosecution for conduct that occurs after the bill is passed and becomes legislation; therefore, victims who are currently being threatened or who are trying to have the images or recording removed will have no remedy," he said.
"The only option that victims have available is to invoke the Commonwealth jurisdiction and submit a request to the eSafety Commissioner to have the image or recording removed."
The eSafety Commissioner has powers to take action against the online hosts of intimate images or videos - including the potential to fine corporations up to $525,000 for failing to comply with a formal removal notice - and the person who posted or threatened to post the material.
Meanwhile, LNP member for Mermaid Beach Ray Stevens said the laws would have also stopped compromising photos of "Plonker" former member Peter Dowling with his penis in a glass of red wine being circulated to the media.
"Today the person that circulated those non-consensual images would cop an up-to-three-year jail sentence," he said.
"But in those days it went willy-nilly first of all, I probably believe, to the Labor Party and then straight off to our good friends at the media."
Have you experienced sexual violence? Did you decide to report it?
If you have a story to tell, we would like to hear from you - find out more here.
