Many people contact Fight the New Drug to share their personal stories about how porn has affected their life or the life of a loved one. We consider these personal accounts very valuable because, while the science and research is powerful within its own right, personal accounts from real people seem to really hit home about the damage that pornography does to real lives.
This Fighter shares below what happened when someone stole her image from YouTube, edited it to be pornographic, and nonconsensually uploaded it to a porn site. What happened to Leila is unacceptable and illegal, but it's also not uncommon.
Hey FTND,
My image was stolen, edited, and uploaded to porn sites. This is the true story of what happened to me.
I am a YouTuber who created a video regarding my journey with self-esteem and choosing to wear a bikini on the beach while overweight to battle the negative self-image I had due to hurtful words in my past. The photos shared were tasteful, and my poses were not sexy.
A while later, a close friend who worked with computer security to monitor violations of company rules came across my image saved to a computer. They were dumbfounded! My image had been completely altered to appear nude. They found the source, which was Pornhub. On there were several stolen photos of me where I’d been re-created and edited to appear naked and in sexual poses on a beach. My friend was brave enough to reach out and send me the images as proof, as embarrassing as it was, because this was their job.
Attempts to have my image removed from the site were met with the following response: “These images do not violate our community standards.” What about my standards, and how are these images violating me? I gave zero consent for my videos and images to be used or reused for any purpose whatsoever.
The person who chose to steal my image has my photos saved. They used a VPN to appear as if they operate out of many different counties around the world Due to their frequent recreations of me, I’ve had to put out disclaimers on both YouTube and Facebook that I do not make porn. This has altered my life! After the first incident, I set that particular video to private so it can no longer be accessed.
They chose to take something beautiful, honest, empowering, and vulnerable, and warp it into something pornographic for people to take advantage of repeatedly. They violated my image! I refuse to live in fear and allow creeps like this to keep me from living my life, terrified of ever posting another photo or video of myself. Nobody can breathe, let alone live, in that kind of anxiety! But I do speak out against it!
This is sexual harassment and definitely not consensual. I hope one day they will answer for what they’ve done.
–Leila
The plague of parasite porn
What happened to Leila is unacceptable and illegal, but it’s also not uncommon.
It’s safe to assume that pretty much all of us have a social media presence of some kind. We scroll through our Facebook timeline, retweet our favorite tweets on Twitter, Snapchat a funny picture to our friends, and follow our favorite celebs on Instagram.
These platforms provide a great way to express and promote ourselves and connect with people around the world. Unfortunately, social media can also have a dark side. The same pictures that you post for friends to see can easily be taken and turned into something much, much less innocent, just like what Leila experienced.
Leila was a victim of “parasite porn,” a growing porn trend where someone will steal and alter regular photos to be explicit and pornographic. This is all done without the knowledge or consent of those pictured, and unfortunately, it can be nearly impossible to get such images removed once they are posted.
In some parasite porn victims’ cases, uploaders can even threaten to send these images to parents or loved ones if the victim tries to have them removed from the site. Cases can turn to sextortion, sometimes, making a violating situation even worse.
The nonconsensual risks of consuming porn
What happened to Leila is a reminder that not all the content on porn sites is consensual.
How can you be sure that the explicit images or videos on porn sites are there with consent from those who appear? Consider the new reality of deepfakes porn, revenge porn, and now parasite porn.
The porn industry works to convince the public that those involved in their videos and images are there because they love sex and performing on camera. They claim that those involved wouldn’t have this career if they “didn’t enjoy what they are doing.” However, situations like this one as well as our article 10 Popular Ex-Porn Performers Open Up About Their Most Popular Scenes shed light on the truth of the matter—though not every performer is exploited in porn, too many are mistreated, abused, and manipulated into participating.
And in the case of Leila, even regular people who aren’t porn performers at all can become victims of this harmful industry. People are blackmailed and coerced, and in all of these cases, the porn industry is primarily concerned with getting clicks and making money or continuing to let users upload whatever they want to the porn site platform.
Beyond the effects that porn has on its consumers, it is important that we understand the harm it inflicts on those used to create it. Even, and especially, when they’re unwilling participants.
Recent disturbing trends like revenge porn, deepfakes porn, and parasite porn can completely destroy the reputation and livelihood of those depicted. Not only are these genres creepy, but they are simply unacceptable. And it’s up to us to spread awareness and stop the demand. Are you with us?
Your Support Matters Now More Than Ever
Most kids today are exposed to porn by the age of 12. By the time they’re teenagers, 75% of boys and 70% of girls have already viewed itRobb, M.B., & Mann, S. (2023). Teens and pornography. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense.Copy —often before they’ve had a single healthy conversation about it.
Even more concerning: over half of boys and nearly 40% of girls believe porn is a realistic depiction of sexMartellozzo, E., Monaghan, A., Adler, J. R., Davidson, J., Leyva, R., & Horvath, M. A. H. (2016). “I wasn’t sure it was normal to watch it”: A quantitative and qualitative examination of the impact of online pornography on the values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of children and young people. Middlesex University, NSPCC, & Office of the Children’s Commissioner.Copy . And among teens who have seen porn, more than 79% of teens use it to learn how to have sexRobb, M.B., & Mann, S. (2023). Teens and pornography. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense.Copy . That means millions of young people are getting sex ed from violent, degrading content, which becomes their baseline understanding of intimacy. Out of the most popular porn, 33%-88% of videos contain physical aggression and nonconsensual violence-related themesFritz, N., Malic, V., Paul, B., & Zhou, Y. (2020). A descriptive analysis of the types, targets, and relative frequency of aggression in mainstream pornography. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49(8), 3041-3053. doi:10.1007/s10508-020-01773-0Copy Bridges et al., 2010, “Aggression and Sexual Behavior in Best-Selling Pornography Videos: A Content Analysis,” Violence Against Women.Copy .
From increasing rates of loneliness, depression, and self-doubt, to distorted views of sex, reduced relationship satisfaction, and riskier sexual behavior among teens, porn is impacting individuals, relationships, and society worldwideFight the New Drug. (2024, May). Get the Facts (Series of web articles). Fight the New Drug.Copy .
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