Co-founder in 2020 of the Stop Fisha collective, at the forefront against cyberattacks, Laura, 20, drew on her experience. To discover in Intimate enemy Wednesday March 30 at 10:50 p.m. on France 2.
Your commitment to the fight against cybersexism was born, in part, because of your own history…
LAURA PEREIRA DIOGO: In college, then in high school, we leaked intimate photos and then a video of me. The guy I used to date in middle school found it fun to share pictures of my boobs with his buddies. The spread wasn’t massive, just everyone knew they existed. And in high school, it got worse with a video, recorded without my knowledge by my boyfriend during a Facetime conversation. I didn’t know we could record… A few months later, she was touring throughout the school and outside.
What have you done ?
I didn’t know where to turn. It was very violent. I tried to bury my head in the sand, but my stalker blackmailed me into telling me that if I sent him more photos, he would stop broadcasting. I did it at first, hoping that they would leave me alone, but giving in to blackmail is never the solution, of course.
Have you spoken to your parents about it?
I was ashamed vis-à-vis them, my fight was on the contrary to do everything so that they do not learn it. This earned me cold sweats, especially when the video started filming in the locker room of the football club where my little brother and my father were registered.
How did it all end?
My attacker was accepted into the high school hopefuls pole, he was going to start a career as a high-level athlete. At that time, I said to him: “Either you make sure to stop the distribution of this content, or I will file a complaint and I will fuck your career.” This means of pressure was my chance, but not all the victims have it.
In March 2020, while a student at Science Po Poitiers and in full confinement, you launched the Stop Fisha collective…
Fisha to “display”, because the attackers “display” their victims by disclosing without their consent intimate photos or videos on social networks (Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, Telegram). With the confinement, this type of account literally exploded. With Stop Fisha, we started by keeping watch to spot them and coordinate to report en masse.
Are you also contacted by victims?
Yes, we receive ten to fifteen messages a day from panicked young women who don’t know what to do. Beyond the legal support – if they want to file a complaint – and psychological, we try to obtain the withdrawal of the contents and relay the report to e-childhood, a governmental association in connection with the hosts of the accounts.
There have been spikes in Fisha accounts during the lockdowns. Where we are ?
It does not calm down, quite the contrary. There is a privatization and monetization of accounts, which require payment to access content. Same for “revenge porn”, which has become a category on some porn sites…
To sum up, what are your recommendations?
We don’t tell girls “Don’t do nudes”, because that would again, and wrongly, make them responsible. Moreover, we boycott the expression “revenge porn”, which implies a justified revenge for pornography. They are just told: “If you send photos, make sure they are not identifiable: no face, tattoo, a neutral background… And put on the photo a discreet point of color, different for a new recipient : if there is a problem, it will allow you to know who broadcast it.
Contacts: @stopfisha on all social networks. e-childhood.org, and national number 3018.
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