Revenge porn: my ex shared my intimate photos, what can I do?

A photo or video of you, intimate and private, is going around: sent to people you know or posted online. You feel ashamed, scared, and as if everyone has seen it. Breathe: the fault lies with the person who shares it, never with you. Revenge porn is a criminal offence in France, the images can come down from platforms and the offender risks prison. A lawyer reviews your situation with you in 20 minutes on Avocat20min.fr.

Here are the useful steps against revenge porn, in the order they matter.

The first three steps

1. Do not delete anything yet. Before any removal, keep a record of the sharing.
2. Do not answer threats and do not pay anything if someone is blackmailing you.
3. Talk to someone you trust, or to a free helpline.

If you are in danger, call 17 or 112. Text 114 if you cannot speak.

For support, France Victimes answers free of charge on 116 006. If you are under 18 or young, 3018 can help: free, anonymous, open 7 days a week from 9 am to 11 pm, by phone, chat or app.

Keep the evidence before removal

Removing revenge porn content also removes the evidence. So take a few minutes to keep everything:

• Screenshots of the post, with the date, time and account name.
• The exact address (URL) of each page or post, copied into a document.
• The offender's messages: threats, blackmail, admissions.
• A list of the people who warned you, with their messages.

If possible, ask a friend to take the screenshots so you do not have to see the images again. For stronger evidence, a commissaire de justice (court officer) can draw up an official online report, at your expense.

Getting revenge porn taken down

There are three routes, and you can follow them at the same time.

Reporting to platforms

Social networks, messaging apps and adult sites all offer a reporting form for non-consensual intimate images. Choose "nudity" or "intimate content shared without consent". Report the offender's account too.

3018 holds trusted flagger status. Its removal requests get priority, often within hours.

The free StopNCII.org tool creates a digital fingerprint of your images on your phone, without uploading them. Partner platforms then block any identical new upload.

PHAROS and search engines

The official PHAROS platform takes reports of illegal online content. Police and gendarmerie officers handle them and can alert the courts. PHAROS does not replace a complaint.

For a search engine, ask for the pages showing your images to be delisted. The GDPR also gives you a right to erasure against the site. If it does not respond, you can complain to the CNIL, the data protection authority, enclosing your earlier requests.

The court, urgently

Article 9 of the Civil Code allows a judge to order any measure to stop an invasion of intimate privacy, through urgent proceedings (référé) where needed. A lawyer can obtain a removal order against the offender, the host or the site, and claim damages.

Revenge porn under French law

Revenge porn means sharing intimate photos or sexual videos without the person's consent. Article 226-2-1 of the Criminal Code punishes it even if you agreed to the picture or sent it yourself.

Agreeing to a photo never means agreeing to it being shared: that is the whole point of the revenge porn offence. The number of recipients does not matter either: one third party is enough.

Conduct	Criminal Code article	Maximum penalty
Sharing sexual images or words without consent	226-2-1	2 years and €60,000
Secretly filming or photographing in a private place	226-1	1 year and €45,000
Same conduct by a spouse, cohabiting or PACS partner	226-1	2 years and €60,000
Sharing a sexual montage or deepfake	226-8-1	2 years and €60,000, 3 years and €75,000 online
Online blackmail with sexual images	312-10	7 years and €100,000
Sharing a sexual image of a minor	227-23	5 years and €75,000, 7 years and €100,000 online

Since Law No. 2024-449 of 21 May 2024 (the SREN law), the Criminal Code also covers sexual content generated by artificial intelligence. A fake image depicting you is therefore an offence, even if you never posed.

If someone threatens to publish your images unless you pay or send more, that is blackmail. Read our guide on sextortion.

Filing a complaint

One rule matters here: for offences under Articles 226-1 to 226-2-1, prosecutors can act only on the victim's complaint (Article 226-6 of the Criminal Code). Without your complaint, the offender will not stand trial for the sharing.

For revenge porn, you can file a complaint at a police station or gendarmerie, which may not refuse it. You can also write to the public prosecutor at the judicial court. Bring your screenshots, the URLs and the offender's identity if you know it.

You have six years from the sharing to act, as for most offences (Article 8 of the Code of Criminal Procedure). Acting quickly is still better, while technical traces remain.

The offender is often a former partner. The sharing then sometimes forms part of a pattern of abuse, and other protections exist: our article on marital rape explains the protection order. If your residence permit depends on your relationship, see also our guide on the residence permit for domestic violence victims.

If the images show sexual violence by several people, our guide on gang rape can help.

After the sharing, look after yourself

Having intimate images shared often causes a shock comparable to an assault: shame, sleeplessness, fear of going out, isolation. These reactions are normal. They say nothing about your worth.

A few sources of support matter in the weeks that follow:

• A doctor or psychologist, who can also certify the impact on your health. That certificate supports a damages claim.
• A victim support organisation, reachable on 116 006, which helps you free of charge with the steps.
• Your employer or school, if the images circulate there. Once told, they can act to stop the sharing among colleagues or pupils.
• Regular checks: search your name every week and report any new post.

If the offender remains unknown, behind a fake account, file a complaint against person or persons unknown. Investigators can ask platforms for the account's identifying data.

How a lawyer helps

You can report and file a complaint on your own. A lawyer becomes useful when revenge porn content does not disappear, when the offender hides behind a fake account or when you want compensation.

A lawyer can:

• go to the urgent applications judge for a fast removal order;
• draft a precise complaint, citing the right articles and evidence;
• join the case as civil party and claim damages;
• write to hosts and search engines, with the court's decision.

Legal aid (aide juridictionnelle) can cover the fees, depending on your income. You can find a criminal lawyer in our directory. No lawyer can promise that every copy will vanish, but each step reduces how far the images travel.