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Revenge Porn Comes to Congress — and Every Woman Should Pay Attention
Rep. Katie Hill’s admission of an affair with a campaign staffer shouldn’t overshadow the crime committed against her
Katie Hill just became the most visible victim of revenge porn, an egregious and profound violation of privacy — this time, enabled by the British press.
Hill, a congresswoman from California, is in the middle of a messy divorce, and her absolute disgrace of an ex-husband allegedly released nude photos of her. The Daily Mail printed them, with the claim that they show Hill has a Nazi tattoo. If that’s true, it’s of course repulsive, but the Anti-Defamation League paints a more complicated picture: Hill’s tattoo is of an iron cross, a neo-Nazi symbol that has more recently been adopted by extreme sports enthusiasts in a non-racist way. Regardless of the meaning behind the tattoo, its presence does not justify printing intimate photos sent by a vengeful ex.
The conversation about Hill has focused as much on her relationship with a campaign aide as it has on the photos. Hill has admitted to having an affair with a woman who worked on her congressional campaign, and has apologized to constituents. Hill is also the subject of a House Ethics Committee investigation over allegations, again made by Hill’s estranged husband, that she had an affair with her legislative director, Graham Kelly (Hill denies that accusation). Hill’s affair with a campaign staffer doesn’t violate House ethics rules, but it’s still clearly questionable — a more-powerful boss sleeping with a young subordinate opens up questions of sexual harassment and significant impropriety.
But those questions pale in comparison to what has been done to Hill. Revenge porn is a scourge that some legislators, including those in Hill’s home state of California, have criminalized. In revenge porn cases, an angry ex (usually, though not always, a man) publicizes nude or sexual photos of someone (usually a woman) they want to humiliate and whose reputation they seek to damage. While we don’t see sexually active men as morally questionable, we still live in a world where sexually active women are branded as sluts and shamed them for their sexuality — which is exactly what’s happening to Hill.
