Publicity of intimate images leads women to consider suicide

Depression, anxiety, difficulties in socializing, self-esteem problems, suicidal ideation were just some of the impacts reported by women who had their intimate images leaked, according to a survey carried out by the Fiocruz Violence, Gender and Health Group (Fundação Oswaldo Cruz) of Minas Gerais. In Brazil, disclosing images of sex, nudity or pornography without the person’s consent is a crime.

The study, carried out through the Postgraduate Program in Public Health, evaluated the damage to the health of women who suffered this type of violence and also the care needed in these situations.

The qualitative research was conducted by sociologist and researcher Laís Barbosa Patrocínio, who heard 17 women aged 18 to 62 from all regions of Brazil who experienced violence, and 10 health professionals involved in this type of care. The testimonies were collected in the second half of 2020.

To the women interviewed, Patrocínio asked them to narrate how the intimate images were produced and disseminated, how it affected them and whether they sought support. The interviews were conducted by video, lasting approximately 60 minutes each. There were situations in which the woman participated in the production of the content, in others the woman did not know. The motivations for the exhibition were also diverse.

According to the researcher, the images released without authorization did not necessarily involve nudity or manifestations of sexuality – but they exposed the women in a way that caused some embarrassment or negative consequences in their lives. Sponsorship also says that prints or audios of more intimate conversations, taken from their original context, are also part of the leaked content that impact mental health.

“The format of the media doesn’t matter. What I discuss in this work is the unauthorized disclosure of intimacy. The way a woman will be exposed is very conceptual. Sometimes the image of a bra is enough for her to be massacred”, explains.

“In one of the cases studied, the media that leaked was a photo of the back of one of the women. She was studying at an elite school and was invited to change schools. There were cases of exposing moments of a woman under the influence of alcohol or during an argument with the partner”, he adds.

damage to mental health

Also according to the research, the damage caused to the mental health of women after being exposed was diverse, ranging from a shock to self-esteem to attempts to take their own life.

Of those interviewed, at least eight of them reported having sought psychological or psychiatric help after the event. For those who already had some emotional predisposition, exposure to intimacy worsened or developed.

“This is the case of eating disorders and depressive states. Those who already had predispositions developed or worsened. Another important consequence is the feeling of guilt reported by victims, which interferes in the process of seeking help”, he says.

According to the researcher, three factors have potentiated these practices in recent years: access to the portable internet with smartphones (we had internet access before, but it was more limited); the production of these media more frequently (Patrocínio emphasizes that this is not a problem, but the unauthorized dissemination of images); and the increasing use of social networks (which allow for a much faster dissemination of content).

For psychologist Ana Lúcia Martins, coordinator of the Psychology Service at Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein, making public an intimate content of a person is a type of aggression and violence.

“There is a mismatch between what is culturally proclaimed and what is actually accepted. Looking at the research results, we have expected emotional reactions to the person thinking about taking their own life. Most likely because some aspect that was revealed there is something that the person cannot bear in their community”, he says.

Ana Lúcia emphasizes that intimate life is private. And even if the image was taken with the woman’s consent, the disclosure would also have to have her approval.

“We understand this situation as something traumatic from an emotional point of view. I imagine that many of these leaks are of images that were produced by mutual agreement between the two. But that did not include disclosure. of the woman’s feeling of guilt for having allowed herself and for having trusted”, says the psychologist.

“Any emotional pain that cannot be shared and cannot be said, it generates an illness and we are seeing an increase in depression and anxiety. There is still a lot of moral judgment and it is necessary to talk a lot about it”, he concludes.