Criminalising Intimate Image-Abuse: A Comparative Perspective by Gian Marco Caletti and Kolis Summerer

Extract

When researching the intersections of law, gender, and technology, January 2024 began with two key episodes: the sexual assault of a girl in the metaverse and the circulation of a sexually explicit deepfake of Taylor Swift over the internet.¹ These incidents once more demonstrated how new technologies are being weaponised to harass, oppress, and threaten women and girls disproportionately, simultaneously highlighting the significant inadequacies of current protections against these rapidly evolving forms of sexualized and gendered harm. Notably, Taylor Swift’s influence has prompted some members of the US Congress to propose legal reforms,² whilst any policy discussion on regulating ‘virtual rape’ has been marred by victim-blaming and social trivialization.³

It is within this context that Gian Marco Caletti and Kolis Summerer present ‘Criminalising intimate image abuse: A comparative perspective’, published by Oxford University Press in February 2024. This volume aims to establish conceptual and theoretical frameworks for legal responses to intimate image abuse. This term encompasses not only the non-consensual creation and sharing of sexually explicit content but also the taking of intimate images and videos without consent and threats to distribute such materials—actions that are both widespread and often gender-specific.⁴ The book follows an international symposium held at the Libera Università di Bolzano (Italy) in 2022 and features contributions from 22 notable scholars. The volume includes influential figures who have shaped key concepts and emerging ideas, such as Clare McGlynn, who has first contributed to coining the term ‘image-based sexual abuse’ and has stressed its intimate aspect in multiple writings. Additionally, it is refreshing to encounter voices like Maria Elosegui, usually heard in the context of European Court of Human Rights decisions, and Domenico Rosani, the youngest contributor who was a PhD candidate at Universität Innsbruck researching sexting while working on this volume.