In its annual honouring of survivors of sex abuse, this year’s Shine The Light campaign is focusing on a woman who fell victim to revenge porn. Seeing that the Shine The Light campaign is nearing its end — it is important that Shainee Chalk’s story is heard.
Chalk never thought that the intimate photos that she shared with her partners would end up surfacing on the web. In 2011, Chalk received numerous Facebook messages indicating that nude photographs of her had been posted to a revenge porn site.
“When I received these messages the first thing I thought was, ‘It cannot be me, how would that have happened?’. I clicked the link that was sent to me and there they were. There were about seven photos of me fully nude on these sites,” said Chalk.
The photos were all posted anonymously, which made putting the blame on someone difficult.
“Not only could you comment on these photos, but my name, town, and school were listed. My social media accounts were also linked to the photos, which meant pretty much anyone who had Twitter or Facebook could contact me about these photos and they did — for months and months,” commented Chalk.
After what felt like an excruciating amount of time, the photos were finally taken down. The owner of the revenge porn site had been caught and taken to jail — though Chalk’s attackers were still out there.
“There was a good month or so, where I absolutely hated my life and wanted to end it. I did not know who was doing this or who to talk to about this. I felt completely alone and wanted to hide from everyone…I just continued to hide it inside of me for a very long time,” said Chalk.
Chalk’s battle with her attackers still continues today.
The photos that were posted recirculated for eight more years. They were constantly being reposted by ex-boyfriends who had collected them over time. Just this past April, photos of Chalk resurfaced along with 40 other women’s pictures.
Chalk says that she has contacted the police multiple times, but has not seen any results. She says she usually hears the response, ‘We are working on it’ — but nothing more.
Now Chalk is speaking out at this year’s Shine The Light campaign to share her story and give other women a voice that she was never given.
“I have since taken all of the photos down on my own and have managed to help other women who are in similar situations. I have provided them with advice and helped them get a handle on things. For a long time, I did not know what to do, or that this was even considered abuse. Now knowing, I want to speak out about it and make a change.”
