According to the CNN report of Erica Fink and Laurie Segall, there is an on-going war right now being fought in the web. It's a war being wage by women against 'revenge porn'.
Revenge porn is sexually explicit media material that is publicly shared online without the consent of the subject individual. It may be uploaded by ex-partners with an intention to shame or embarrass the pictured individual, or by hackers.
Many of the images are photos taken by the victims themselves, or selfies, with women as the primary target. The uploaded images are often accompanied by personal information, including the pictured individual's full name, links to social media profiles or addresses. Unfortunately, prosecuting such crime is not as easy at it would seem.
Take the case of Nikki Rettelle whose nude photos dot the Internet and still popping up years after an ex-boyfriend posted them.
Rettelle, 34, says her naked pictures have been on hundreds of websites. It started with a man she sarcastically calls "Mr. Wonderful." The two dated briefly until Rettelle noticed an LED light beaming from a pen-holder in his room.
"Something compelled me to unscrew it, and as soon as it opened up ... my world started spinning," she recalls. Inside she found a memory card filled with countless images of herself -- ranging from her watching TV to changing her clothes.
It turned out the pen-holder was one of many cameras that had been collecting her private moments. Mr. Wonderful had also planted cameras at her home.
"It didn't dawn on me that people did that," Rettelle said.
Those images ended up on sites devoted to revenge porn. In Retelle's case, "Mr. Wonderful" paired her naked images with her full name and birthday along with phone numbers and addresses he believed were hers.
Situations like this happen more than you'd think.
In Chicago, a woman who asked to be called "Jane" recounts her nightmare. Pictures and videos taken on her honeymoon were posted online by her ex-husband. She says one video has been viewed over a million times.
"I describe it [as] similar to maybe the feeling of getting raped - you feel like you're that exposed," she said. "You feel like a million people are watching ... the most intimate moment of your life."
Both women say law enforcement was initially unhelpful.
"They basically told me that there was nothing I could do. They said, 'Next time don't be identifiable if you choose to do something like this,'" Jane said.
For victims, raising awareness is part of the path back to empowerment.
Rettelle says she's speaking out now to regain the control she lost. She has a message for Mr. Wonderful.
"I would tell him thank you," she says. "I love me for the first time in my entire existence and it's because of the character building I was forced to do because of this."
Revenge porn is sexually explicit media material that is publicly shared online without the consent of the subject individual. It may be uploaded by ex-partners with an intention to shame or embarrass the pictured individual, or by hackers.
Many of the images are photos taken by the victims themselves, or selfies, with women as the primary target. The uploaded images are often accompanied by personal information, including the pictured individual's full name, links to social media profiles or addresses. Unfortunately, prosecuting such crime is not as easy at it would seem.
Take the case of Nikki Rettelle whose nude photos dot the Internet and still popping up years after an ex-boyfriend posted them.
Rettelle, 34, says her naked pictures have been on hundreds of websites. It started with a man she sarcastically calls "Mr. Wonderful." The two dated briefly until Rettelle noticed an LED light beaming from a pen-holder in his room.
"Something compelled me to unscrew it, and as soon as it opened up ... my world started spinning," she recalls. Inside she found a memory card filled with countless images of herself -- ranging from her watching TV to changing her clothes.
It turned out the pen-holder was one of many cameras that had been collecting her private moments. Mr. Wonderful had also planted cameras at her home.
"It didn't dawn on me that people did that," Rettelle said.
Those images ended up on sites devoted to revenge porn. In Retelle's case, "Mr. Wonderful" paired her naked images with her full name and birthday along with phone numbers and addresses he believed were hers.
Situations like this happen more than you'd think.
In Chicago, a woman who asked to be called "Jane" recounts her nightmare. Pictures and videos taken on her honeymoon were posted online by her ex-husband. She says one video has been viewed over a million times.
"I describe it [as] similar to maybe the feeling of getting raped - you feel like you're that exposed," she said. "You feel like a million people are watching ... the most intimate moment of your life."
Both women say law enforcement was initially unhelpful.
"They basically told me that there was nothing I could do. They said, 'Next time don't be identifiable if you choose to do something like this,'" Jane said.
For victims, raising awareness is part of the path back to empowerment.
Rettelle says she's speaking out now to regain the control she lost. She has a message for Mr. Wonderful.
"I would tell him thank you," she says. "I love me for the first time in my entire existence and it's because of the character building I was forced to do because of this."
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