4 days ago
Thousands of images of Irish women and girls uploaded to site containing sexual threats
GARDAÍ HAS BEEN urged to investigate an online forum where thousands of images of girls and women from across Ireland have been posted without their knowledge.
The pictures appear to have been taken from both the public and private social media accounts of those targeted, with some posted alongside sexual threats.
They appeared on content sharing site Reddit in an Irish subgroup which encourages its 3,200 plus members to 'trade' images of 'IRL (in real life) girls' for sexual gratification.
Many of those images include teenagers in their school uniforms, alongside their names, ages and locations. Their schools are also easily identifiable.
Other pictures were of women, some clearly taken without consent. Most of the content was published alongside misogynistic, sexist and explicit comments, most of which is too offensive to publish.
One post included an image of a woman getting into a car, clearly taken without her knowledge. It was uploaded to the Irish subgroup, where one user encouraged others to share similar images.
The group specifically targeted women and girls from the north and south of Ireland, with some posts listing victims by county. Requests were also made to upload images of females from specific towns and cities.
After being made aware of the forum by
The Journal Investigates
, Clíona Saidléar, Executive Director of the Rape Crisis Network Ireland urged gardaí to investigate.
She said that due to the seriousness of the content involved, she would be unable to provide further comment.
'This is a matter for gardaí and I would urge them to investigate,' Saidléar said.
In a statement issued to
The Journal Investigates
, a Reddit spokesperson confirmed it had now taken down the group, which had been active since August 2024.
'Non-consensual intimate media has no place on Reddit,' a spokesperson said.
'We prohibit this content and have teams, tools, and processes dedicated to dedicating and removing it. In line with our policies, the community in question was banned.'
PSNI 'will take action'
The Journal Investigates
also contacted gardaí about the activities of the online forum. However, at the time of publication, it had not responded to requests for comment.
However, in a statement issued to
The Journal Investigates
, the PSNI said it will 'take action if images of women and girls of an explicit nature are shared online' and vowed to investigate 'any harmful threats made'.
PSNI Detective Superintendent (DS) Lindsay Fisher said: 'We recently launched our Power to Change campaign which is aimed at placing a societal focus on those who objectify and disrespect women.
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'The main purpose of this campaign is a call to action, where boys and men are asked to speak out against misogynistic behaviour and talk to friends or family who may be engaging either in person or online in this way.
DS Fisher added that 'all women and girls should be free and feel safe' to use social media without being 'the subject of abuse and objectification'.
'As a Police Service we will take action if images of women and girls of an explicit nature are shared online, and will investigate any harmful threats made.'
Reddit, where users can create niche online communities called 'subreddits', allows users to share content, discuss topics and interact with others who share similar interests.
Each subreddit has its own set of rules, and is moderated by self-appointed 'community members'.
The subgroup in question was set up and moderated by one account since August last year. That account, under an anonymous username, claimed to be a male from Ireland who had just celebrated his 18th birthday.
Some using the group also claimed to be still in school, with some organising 'trades' of images on other platforms.
One disturbing post, named a school in the north of Ireland and requested 'stories' of girls aged '15 or 16'.
In another, users were asked to upload pictures of their female relatives.
File image of the Garda Commissioner Drew Harris.
In 2020,
gardaí launched an investigation
into the alleged uploading of images and videos of Irish women and girls, without their consent, to a number of online forums.
It was after advocacy and lobbying group Victims Alliance claimed tens of thousands of images had been shared, many including minors.
However,
Garda Commissioner Drew Harris
later said there have been no formal complaints made of image-based sexual abuse in relation to the images.
He also confirmed that around 10,000 images had been assessed, but none contained 'images of child abuse within them'.
—
Patricia Devlin is an investigative reporter with
The Journal Investigates
.
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