The petition was launched after a large scale hacking of sexual images, which included images of underage girls being shared online.
Over 25,000 people have signed a petition to make revenge porn a criminal offence in Ireland.
Revenge porn refers to the revealing of sexually explicit images or videos of a person posted on the internet, often by a former sexual partner, without the consent of the subject and in order to cause them distress or embarrassment.
This is not currently a crime in Ireland, and the petition aims to ensure that those who are found guilty of revenge porn be added to the sex offenders register and face a criminal conviction, which could see those convicted jailed for up to seven years.
The petition was launched after a large scale incident, which saw a number of sexual images of Irish women and girls shared in folders online.
Some of the images in the folder featured girls under the age of 18.
The petition reads: “Women in Ireland live in constant fear of having their most private pictures released without consent and even being recorded unknowingly.
“Abusive partners will threaten women to stay with them or they will release their images causing them to stay trapped in abusive relationships.”
If you wish to sign the petition, you can do so here.
When approached for comment, An Garda SÃochána said that it is aware of the reports and that the “Assistant Commissioner has commenced probative enquires into the matter.”
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