Ownership of Images: The Prevalence of Revenge Porn Across a University Population

Since the Internet was first established in the late 1960s it has become significantly easier to gain access to. Email, bulletin board systems, and Internet gaming came to be in the 1970s. Internet pornography soon followed and access has continued to increase. A new trend in pornography includes interactive pornographic websites, which offers users the ability to upload and share pornographic materials. This ability allows individuals to not only post their own photos or videos, but also the photos and videos of others who may, or may not, have consented to such distribution. Nonconsensual pornography also referred to as “revenge porn,” “cyber rape,” or “involuntary porn,” concerns the creation, acquisition and/or distribution of sexually graphic images or movies of individuals without their consent to the distribution. Simply, it is the nonconsensual distribution of consensually or nonconsensually created pornography. This exploratory research hopes to better understand the prevalence and effects of revenge porn amongst college students through a convenience sample of 167 criminal justice students at Bridgewater State University. Specifically this study asks, how prevalent is revenge porn among university students? What is the relationship between social media presence and revenge porn victimization? And what are the demographic characteristics of criminal justice students who post revenge porn online