Revenge porn victim and campaigner Olimpia Melo.
Congress has passed a law to combat “revenge porn” — the publication of private sexual videos, images or audios without the consent of those depicted — with punishment of up to six years in prison.
The law, which had already been approved by the Senate, swept through the Chamber of Deputies with 446 votes in favor and one against, and now goes to the president to be signed into law.
The measures are widely known as the “Olimpia Law,” named after Olimpia Coral Melo, a Puebla woman who was an 18-year-old victim of revenge porn in 2013 and campaigned for their introduction.
Since 2013 Melo has founded Women Against Gender Violence and the National Front for Sorority to prevent online abuse and support women who have experienced it.
In March 2014 she presented a bill before the Puebla Congress, which four years later led to sanctions being introduced against revenge porn.
The federal measures strengthen the law to protect women against violence and enter into the penal code.
Twenty-eight of 32 state legislatures have already passed their own strictures against revenge porn.
Sources: Proceso (sp), Reuters
