Revenge porn is now a crime in Israel. The country's parliament, the Knesset, passed a new law on Monday, which criminalized the posting of nude videos of others online without their consent. This crime can carry a prison sentence of up to five years.
Israel follows in the footsteps of New Jersey and California, the first two states in the U.S. to outlaw the lewd trend. In New Jersey, before "revenge porn" became a mainstream term, a 2003 invasion of privacy law prohibited the distribution of nude or sexual material without that person's content.
See also: It's Still Easy to Get Away With Revenge Porn
"We are witnessing more and more cases of sexual assaults that were filmed and distributed in public without restraint and without limits," said Yifat Kariv, the Israeli parliament member who introduced the bill. "This legislative intervention is necessary and will help fight the shocking phenomenon of virtual rape."
Those suspected of posting nude videos of former or current partners without their permission will be prosecuted as sexual offenders, according the the new law, which was approved unanimously. In California, the anti-revenge porn bill passed the state Senate and the Assembly with almost unanimous votes as well, with 37-1 and 77-1 votes, respectively.
The legislation was inspired by a case last year that involved a video of a couple having sex and was widely distributed on WhatsApp, a popular smartphone instant messaging app. The man in the video reportedly sent the footage through the app after the couple broke up; it was then forwarded to thousands, as reported by The Times of Israel.
Kariv celebrated the passing of the law; she said that making revenge porn a crime will help the law catch up with technology and fight the disturbing trend.
"It is clear to us that the pace of legislation always lags behind the technical and virtual reality in which we live," she said. "This is a law that is a breakthrough both from the legislative standpoint and also from the normative and ethical standpoint. This is a great achievement for the victims of sex crimes."
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