‘Someone’s Daughter’: Unpunished Revenge Porn’s Terrifying Toll in the Balkans

Photo:Horacio Olavarria, Unsplash

The video, however, likely still lurks in the darkest corners of the Internet. And her former boyfriend has never been punished.

"The condemnation was based exclusively on the fact that I am a woman, a single mother and a teacher," she said. "Women laughed at and belittled me, while men reveled in it and sent me obscene offers on a daily basis, offensive content on social networks and the like. I encountered sporadic understanding and support, but that was not the rule."

Natasa recalled the moment she set out her case to three male inspectors of Serbia's special prosecutor's office for high-tech crime:

"Face-to-face, one of the three inspectors told me, 'I know you single mothers - you just want to get married. What did you expect from a younger man?'"

"I felt accusations and intrusions into my privacy that were unnecessary. They told me they didn't know if it would 'pass'."

Natasa's complaint, written in her own hand and filed in April 2021 with Serbia's special prosecutor's office for high-tech crime, is officially still being processed.

But Natasa holds out little hope, fearing her case is falling hostage to the legislative gaps, institutional prejudice and victim-blaming by conservative societies that have left women in the Balkans woefully unprotected against the growing scourge of 'revenge porn'.

This investigation, looking specifically at Serbia, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina, paints a damning picture of official inertia, social stigma and media culpability, where the onus is on the victim to build a case and the little support they find comes almost exclusively from the civil sector.

"Violence against women is not a priority," said Vanja Macanovic...