As you are no doubt already aware, in 2014 an anonymous phone hacker stole intimate photos - and videos - of over 100 female celebrities and published them online.
The victims included Kate Upton, 22, Michelle Keegan, 27, Ariana Grande, 21, Kirsten Dunst, 32, Jennifer Lawrence, 24, Jessica Brown Findlay, 24, Cat Deeley, 37, and more.
JENNIFER LAWRENCE DESCRIBES LEAKED NUDE PHOTOS AS A 'FLAGRANT VIOLATION'
Yet, despite the fact that these women had been victimised and exploited, the fact that their privacy has been ripped from them despite using secured, password protected, encrypted servers, many still choose to publicly blame the victims.
Kelly Brook took to Twitter to post an ill-advised tweet, in which she said: "The only nude photos you'll ever see of me are the ones that I 'Leak' and the ones that my head are superimposed on!"
Ricky Gervais, similarly, blamed the stars themselves, writing: “Celebrities, make it harder for hackers to get nude pics of you from your computer by not putting nude pics of yourself on your computer.”
A radio presenter disgustingly used the crime to promote a competition, joking "People need to stop taking naked selfies of themselves and call in!", while members of the public have continuously asked** "why would you even take photos like this?"**, with many adding that they would never do so themselves.
You know what? I don't care if you don't take naked selfies - it isn't relevant, it isn't helpful and it is, frankly, offensive. Because, in voicing your disapproval, you're suggesting that these women - some of whom are barely more than teenagers - DESERVE what happened to them.
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Women should be able to choose how and when and to whom they want to share their bodies with - and none of these women chose to share their naked body with the world.
Stealing these photos and splashing them all over the internet means that, when we look at these pictures, we're not only supporting the actions of the hacker, but we're violating these women again and again.
Girls creator Lena Dunham summed it up perfectly, saying: "The 'don't take naked pics if you don't want them online' argument is the 'she was wearing a short skirt' of the web. Ugh."
Emma Watson added: "Even worse than seeing women's privacy violated on social media is reading the accompanying comments that show such a lack of empathy."
Exactly.
Absolutely none of the victims involved in the leak needed to take any form of “responsibility” or apologise for anything; they hadn't committed a crime and they definitely hadn't committed a sin by creating said photos in the first place or in “allowing” them to be stolen.
The criminal here was the hacker - who is, in his / her actions, a thief and a sex offender. We should be blaming him for stealing the photographs and publishing them online, not condemning the women for choosing to create the photographs in the first place.
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**Stop asking why they had the naked photos in the first place. **
**Stop saying you wouldn't sext or take naked selfies in this day and age. **
And stop perpetuating a rape culture.
Because you're better than that.