'It is chilling': Kerry boys reported to gardaí for sharing intimate photos of girls
Anyone caught sharing intimate images of someone without their consent could then face up to seven years in prison and/or an unlimited fine.
“An explicit degradation” of females who had images of their breasts used in a 'sick game’ by eight young males in Kerry has been reported, days before image-based sexual abuse becomes a jailable offence in Ireland.
The males involved, who are believed to be teenagers from Tralee, reportedly appropriated photos of females from their social media accounts, cropped out their heads, leaving only an image of their breasts, and then shared them to a ‘guess who's cleavage was whose' group.
Some of the victims are believed to be minors.
Ceartas, an organisation that works to support victims of image-based sexual abuse and remove harmful content, stated on Instagram that it had reported the eight males to gardaí.
Justice Minister Helen McEntee will commence the Harassment, Harmful Communications, and Related Offences Act, also known as 'Coco’s Law', on Tuesday.
It will come into effect on Wednesday. Anyone caught sharing intimate images of someone without their consent could then face up to seven years in prison and/or an unlimited fine.
Sharing images of a woman’s breasts is specifically covered by the Act. It is irrelevant, under the Act, if the victim originally consented to the image being taken if they did not consent to its subsequent publication or distribution.
Image-based sexual abuse and online harassment are serious crimes with real-life consequences.
The new Act is named after Nicole Fox Fenlon, known as ’Coco’, who died by suicide in 2018 after suffering years of online bullying and abuse.
Mary McDermott, chief executive of Safe Ireland, an organisation which aims to end violence against and abuse of women and children, said this serious case speaks to the chilling misogyny in Ireland.
“This is the wilful gaming of girls. Boys are taught to game, girls are taught to be game," she said.
"And in this case what it shows is wilful intent to really assault the girl’s reputation and her person. It’s an explicit degradation and a debasement and should be treated with absolute seriousness.
Ms McDermott said that prevalent, dangerous gender stereotypes teach boys to play games, both virtual and physical, to hunt in packs, to win, and to dominate.
"It is chilling. And we have to keep naming it," she said.
One young woman from Cork who suffered image-based sexual abuse last year when images of her and her friends, some of whom were minors, were appropriated and abused on vile Twitter accounts, said: "It’s a disgrace that this is continuously happening in Irish culture and misogyny is engrained; these boys should be held accountable for their actions particularly after bringing in legislation. It needs to be acted on."
Although gardaí are aware of reports of certain images being shared on social media platforms, no personal complaint has been made at this time, the force said.
