Revenge Porn Is Something To Be Taken Seriously, So Why Has Rob Kardashian Not Been Arrested Yet?
The Rob and Chyna rollercoaster has been quite a ride. An engagement and a pregnancy in a matter of months, a show on E!, and a shit tonne of blazing rows. Their daughter, Dream, was born last November and as wonderful as her arrival was, the happily ever after didn't really last. Now I'm not here to keep you up with the Kardashians, but in case you didn't know, the latest has gone down as follows: hideous break-up, footage emerging of Blac Chyna in bed with another guy, Rob takes to social media, posts Chyna's nudes, and basically airs all of their dirty laundry.
Now regardless of what the details are, let's focus more on the fact that Rob Kardashian, in an attempt to shame Chyna as a slut or a bad fiancée – or mother, let's not forget there's a seven month-old baby stuck in the middle of all this – he felt it appropriate to share with his however-many-millions of followers explicit photos of Chyna.
In 2013, due to the sheer amount of people being a victim of what's known as 'revenge porn', a law was passed penalising the publication of 'non-consensual pornography'. With that in mind, my first thought is: why the hell has Rob Kardashian not been arrested?
Given that this is a case that's far from private - Chyna's nudes were shared via Instagram before Rob's account was suspended - it's not like nobody knows about it. According to various news sources, Chyna's filed for a restraining order against Rob Kardashian, and a hearing will take place tomorrow. Surely this is where the law steps in and a warrant is issued? Sadly, probably not.
Within moments of the posts going up, Rob Kardashian became a trending topic on Twitter, and the fact that more people have taken interest in questioning Chyna principles having allegedly cheated on Rob than Rob's principles for releasing Chyna's nudes is horrifying. This goes to show that in any situation, a woman's sexuality continues to be demonised over a man's moral compass. An act of malice like this may have been triggered by a moment of anger, but a temper doesn't justify such a deplorable, and frankly just plain nasty, move. So will Rob face any real repercussions? Honestly, I wouldn't hold your breath.
In the first year of the law against revenge porn being in place in the UK, CPS stated that more than 200 people were prosecuted for sharing private sexual images, with 1,160 reported incidents from April 2015 to December 2015. In the UK, those charged with revenge porn offences can face up to two years imprisonment.
A man with a profile like Kardashian will likely avoid any consequences, but with a (somewhat lighter) penalty of up to six months jail time in the States, wouldn't making an example of someone high-profile dissuade others from doing the same thing out of spite?
Sadly, it'll likely be just another example of a celebrity sitting above the law.
