Andrew Bradshaw, the Mayor of Cambridge, Maryland, was arrested this month for posting nude photographs of a former romantic partner on Reddit. He's been charged with 50 counts of violating Maryland's law banning 'revenge porn.'
Revenge porn, or nonconsensual image sharing, is the distribution of nude, intimate, or sexually explicit images or videos of another person without their consent and explicit permission. This act is usually perpetrated by a current or ex partner for the purposes of retaliation, embarrassment, or blackmail of the survivor. Revenge porn is sexual violence, and 48 states have criminalized it: Maryland's law took effect in 2014.
In a New York Times' article last week, Lisae C. Jordan, MCASA's executive director, called this case a "vivid example" of the type of harassment survivors are describing as reports of revenge porn and online harassment have surged during the pandemic.
While on-air with WHCP this week, Jordan talked more specifically about the violation of privacy revenge porn survivors experience. "This is not someone streaking down the street and everyone could see them naked...this is an image that was taken privately. It's clear abuse."
If you, or a loved one, are a survivor of sexual exploitation in Maryland, help is available
Call the Sexual Assault Legal Institute (SALI): 301-565-2277, or toll-free 877-496-SALI
Click here to find your local rape crisis center or call 211 to be connected with local resources
