Hey, it's Shira from What's Trending...
coming to you from Siren Studios...
with YouTube stars and couple Bria and Chrissy.
Chrissy Chambers recently came out on her own YouTube channel...
about her experience with revenge porn...
and she's actually started a petition to make revenge porn illegal in the US.
So for those who don't know, can you tell us what revenge porn is and what the term means?
I think a lot of people are confused about the meaning of revenge porn...
and the actual definition is: "When someone shares...
"... photos or videos, that can be consensual or non-consensual...
"...that are of a sexual nature, and they're posted online or shared to cause malicious harm...
"...and mal-intent to the victim."
Without consent.
Give us a little context as to what actually happened to you.
My ex-boyfriend from years ago...
was older than me, and controlling, and when I suggested that we break up...
he decided one night, when I got intoxicated...
and I blacked out, and he filmed himself in a sexual nature with me without my consent or my knowledge.
After our break-up, years later, he posted them online...
And I didn't find out about it until just 2 years ago.
So what are the challenges of going after someone that has done something like this to you?
And why is it so hard to get justice?
The revenge porn law that exists now in the UK doesn't apply to my case...
because it happened years ago.
We got legal help in 2013 and they've been working with us ever since...
trying to get justice. And it's been nearly impossible.
Even with that team. I can't imagine what it's like for victims that don't have the same support I do.
It's a crime, so we thought maybe people would care, and no one did.
All the lawyers in the US that we contacted...
...she was so incredible in helping me reach out to these people...
but they all said, "I'm so sorry. There's not a law that applies to your situation.
"We can't really do anything to help you."
Or they would say "This crime happened in the UK."
"You have to go there."
"So you have to get legal in the UK." And in the UK, people would say:
"Well, the crime happened in the US, so you have to get people in the US."
It was like a ping pong game with our emotions, back and forth.
No one was helping.
CHRISSY: It was just crazy, because the videos took place in Atlanta, where I formerly lived.
He uploaded them in the United Kingdom.
So we had to start working with a legal firm there...
to help us, and now we're working with the police in the UK to try to bring charges.
What is the status of revenge porn laws right now?
There's 16 states in the United States that have laws against revenge porn.
I think Minnesota is working to become the 17th.
But currently, that ranges from basic misdemeanor to a Class 4 felony in Illinois.
None of that is enough to be considered justice for the victims.
You don't have people going in civil suit for damages.
You don't have people being arrested and given the right sentence time in terms of jail.
The United States is just incredibly behind in the law...
and people are killing themselves because of the humiliation that this causes them.
You found out about this crime 2 years ago.
How is it still impacting your day-to-day life?
CHRISSY: You can still search all of this...
and it continues to be devastating and traumatizing in my life, even today.
It's incredibly difficult to have gone live with the story.
I know that I'm going to be searched. People are going to be looking at me...
being violated, and that's incredibly hard...
but I know that the pain I've gone through, and the pain it causes to come forward...
is nothing like the enormity of the pain the victims experience when they don't get help...
and when they don't even have laws that will protect them.
After this news broke, you got a lot of mean, negative comments on your channel.
How did that make you feel?
And why do you think young people were motivated to respond in that way?
I think it's very important for people to realize that, you know...
it's not their fault for taking a naked picture and trusting somebody they love.
I'm not saying it's necessarily a good thing to do in our society...
but a lot of people, they trust this person. It's the one person they trust most in their life!
And that's not fair to then blame the victim. Its not the victim's fault.
But lots of times, it's not even consensual images or videos that are being shared.
In my case, it wasn't.
So this can truly happen to anyone...
regardless of what kind of private material that you share.
I think another problem you have with the slut-shaming and why there are not laws...
protecting victims is gender stereotyping.
We've got such a society that is making women sexualized objects.
And that causes other women to play into that. That causes men to play into that...
which makes people say horrific things like:
"Well, you shouldn't have provoked the attack" or "You shouldn't have gotten drunk"...
or "You shouldn't have trusted this person."
That's absurd. The reality is, 10% of all exes are going to threaten to post private images online.
60% of those threats become reality.
So that means 5-6% of people, mostly women, are going to be victims of revenge porn.
So people thinking that it's just something that could be far away--
Even yesterday, someone very ignorant said:
"That's just before my generation. My significant other would never do that to me.
"I know that I'm with somebody that I can actually trust."
That kind of thing is such a destructive thing to say to someone...
because it honestly could happen at any age.
It could be someone drugging you at a restaurant...
and violating you, or it could be a teenager sharing an image...
and the ex posting it on Snapchat.
I think it's important to say, it's not an age. It can happen to anyone.
You've started a petition on Change.org to encourage Congress to make revenge porn illegal.
Why was this an important step for you to take?
Like I said, we only have 16 states that have laws against it.
There's no overarching law of the land that says explicitly, this is a terrible crime...
and we're going to take this seriously and ban it.
CHRISSY: That's just absurd.
There's only 3 countries in the world right now that have bans against revenge porn.
It's up to the United States to really take a stand and lead the charge for other countries.
I'm not gonna stop until we get justice.
We've partnered with Representative John Lesch of Minnesota.
He's working to fight revenge porn, so I'm going to be joining his task force...
that's including lawmakers and lawyers from around the country.
We have our first meeting at the end of the month.
CHRISSY: I spoke at the UK's first-ever revenge porn conference...
in April and was invited to come back and speak to their House of Lords maybe later this year.
So I just want to do everything I can with our platform to make the change...
and Jackie Speier partnered with Change.org to create legislation to fight revenge porn.
So I partnered with Change.org to create this petition.
What has the online response been like since you posted this video?
BRIA: It's overwhelmingly positive.
I think people realize how difficult of a situation this is...
and that's the reason a lot of people don't come forward with this type of crime.
It's so violating.
But I think people realize that, and that's why we're getting overwhelming amounts of support.
To take something that has been such a source of pain and trauma and devastation in our lives...
for years now and to finally, today--
We've been preparing for this for two years, next week.
To finally today be sharing this is...
It just means the world to me, to know that...
somebody else might not have to go through the same thing I did...
and could go and get help...
that just means everything to me.
So for people out there that want to help, they've already signed the petition...
what else can they do?
Share the petition. Please, share the petition after you sign it.
Share it with your friends. Lawmakers. Contact, whatever state you're in, the representative.
Ask them-- Demand change. Demand a revenge porn law.
Demand a revenge porn law at a national level. Start calling the White House.
That's what we've been doing all morning.
If we inundate them with messages, they're going to have to respond.
The most important thing is to get the signatures out there.
I think once you hit over 25,000, governments like the White House typically have to give a response.
So that's what we're trying to do.
Thank you so much for your bravery, to share this story. I know it's going to impact millions.
And you can sign the petition right now. Link is in the description below.
Change.org/EndRevengePorn
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Bye.