The Autonomous Women's Center, symbolically on International Women's Day, is launching an important campaign that invites citizens to join the fight against abuse and unauthorized sharing of intimate photos and videos. Under the slogan "Swear to the law", the campaign carries a strong message and directly invites you to sign the petition, which has a clear goal - passing a law that qualifies the unauthorized sharing of intimate content as a criminal offense.

This practice, which is often called "revenge pornography", although the world is moving towards eliminating the use of that term, is an increasingly widespread phenomenon in our society. The victims of such abuses are usually women of all ages, who feel shame and experience emotional suffering and condemnation by society, and it becomes the predominant form of sexual violence that seriously violates the privacy, intimacy and dignity of girls, women and girls. Therefore, the petition aims to improve the protection of victims by establishing the criminal responsibility of the perpetrators of these crimes.

"The campaign used the most common promises and oaths that men use to convince potential victims to send their intimate photos and videos without hesitation. 'Big' words and promises such as: "I swear on": "my mother", "everything I have", "my eyes", "my children" are very easily  trampled on, and are deliberately placed in the form of a legal statement. With this simple but impressive message, the Autonomous Women's Center wants to point out how absurd it is that the only protection is sometimes lightly uttered words when it comes to such a serious and intimate topic. We hereby send a message to the state, especially to the Working Group of the Ministry of Justice, which is working on amendments to the Criminal Code, as well as to society as a whole, that the law is the only real protection," points out Vanja Macanović from the Autonomous Women's Center.

This social phenomenon has its roots in relations of power and control. Victims, primarily girls and women, face serious consequences when their privacy becomes the subject of public comments and abuse. The campaign emphasizes the importance of education about the consequences of sharing intimate content with third parties, but also about the need for legal protection of those whose private content has been misused without their consent.

Adopting a law that would condemn and sanction the unauthorized sharing of intimate content represents a step forward in the direction of creating a society that respects the privacy and individual rights of each person. This initiative, aimed at protecting victims of all ages, also sends a strong message that these forms of digital abuse will not be tolerated in our society.

It is important that all citizens actively participate in supporting this campaign, by signing the petition and spreading awareness about the harmfulness of unauthorized sharing of intimate photos and videos. Only through joint efforts can we create a society where the intimacy and privacy of each person is respected and protected. Let's support the "Swear to the Law" campaign, because every signature is important.

The Petition can be signed on the link: SWEAR TO THE LAW!

Contact persons: Sanja Pavlović and Vanja Macanović

The implementation of the campaign was supported by agencies McCann Belgrade, Universal Media and Two Rivers.