What's Turkey Doing About the Revenge Porn Epidemic?

Early this month, a popular celebrity in Nigeria faced severe backlash from the public after she declared that an anonymous person was threatening to leak her sex video. This story would not be the first time a Nigerian female is experiencing repercussions over a leaked video without her consent.

In 2019, a famous private university expelled one of its students after an anonymous person leaked her sex video on social media. However, Nigeria is not the only country that faces this epidemic. In February 2020, a father killed his daughter to possess indecent images of herself in Turkey.

Not to say that females are the only ones who fall victims to revenge porn, however, women disproportionately outnumber men. A study done by the Istanbul IT Law Association showed that Turkish women were 27 times more likely than their men to be victims of revenge pornography. Often the perpetrators are intimate partners who try to blackmail their exes or extort money.

The perpetrators use the leaked materials to control their victims and coerce them into giving in specific demands. Victims are often journalists, celebrities, and female politicians. Coercion can range from sexual abuse to extortion of money.

Victims of revenge pornography face numerous forms of psychological and physical abuse. In an interview, one victim described it as being raped continuously. Many of these victims develop PTSD as a result of the experience. These effects are understandable since perpetrators are usually persons that were close to the victims.

However, many victims of revenge porn do not come forward and report this abuse primarily out of fear of backlash due to the country's conservative nature. This might be what contributes to the underreporting of revenge porn cases in Turkey. While Turkey has laws that protect victims and punish perpetrators, most revenge porn cases still go unreported.

Besides the fear of backlash and the apparent lack of support by the law, there might be other obstacles that now threaten women from seeking justice. In March, Turkey announced that it would be withdrawing from the decade-old Instanbul Convention tackling the violence against women.

This retreat has sparked concerns among nations of the EU and citizens of the country - Turkey was the first to sign the treaty. The president of the Turkish Women Association said that she believed Turkey might be "shooting itself in the foot”  with the decision. This withdrawal threatens many women's rights and has sparked protests among women and women's rights activists around Turkey.

The president has since announced that Turkey will be using local laws to fight the violence against women. One of such measures is training on anger management and control of perpetrators and potentials. There has also been debate on whether the adoption of calming lines will reduce the rate of femicide in Turkey - as seen in Columbia.

One has to wonder about the effectiveness of these methods in preventing violence against women, especially in the issue of revenge porn. Do you imagine an angry ex taking time off their vendetta to call a hotline and explain why it is that they want to ruin your life by threatening you with nude photos of yourself?

Since Turkey retreated from the Instanbul Convention, there have been over 200 female deaths. One would have to question the president's reasoning for this withdrawal, especially since the COVID pandemic brought an increase in reports of an increase in revenge porn and domestic violence cases.

The president defended the decision on claims that it went against "family values.” The reason stated above would naturally bring the question to mind such as, "what values exactly does a treaty that protects women go against?" and "are those values worth still upholding?"

According to the statement made by the Presidential Directorate, the reality shows that certain bodies tried to hijack the convention to promote the normalization of homosexuality. This act is still very much frowned upon in Turkey.

While one can still question the decision in light of this knowledge - is preventing the normalization of homosexuality more critical than showing solidarity in the fight against femicide? - the country's decision to uphold its cultural values is understandable, and people should respect it.