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A 31-year-old woman who sent sex tapes of herself to five people on WhatsApp, killed herself after they went viral.
Tiziana Cantone from Naples, Italy, died in September 2016, a year after the videos of her performing sex acts with unidentified men were posted online without her permission.
In one, the revenge porn victim can be heard saying to the person holding the camera: ‘You’re making a video? Bravo!’
Her comment was soon turned into a meme and appeared on t-shirts and parody websites all over the world, which led to people recognising her on the street.
Tiziana quit her job and changed her name but she fell into a depression.
Her mother, Maria Teresa Giglio, believes the videos were uploaded on purpose as part of a ‘premeditated, criminal plan’ to humiliate her daughter. She spoke to the BBC in the hope of saving other girls from going through something similar.
‘Her life was ruined in front of everyone,’ she said. ‘People made fun of her, parodies ended up on pornographic websites. She was called shameful names.’
In September, a court in Naples ordered the intimate videos to be removed from several websites and search engines. But the court also ordered her to pay €20,000 ($27,500AUD) in legal costs.
It was too much and soon after, her mother received a call at work.
‘My sister-in-law called me, and in a calm voice told me to come home,’ she said. ‘When I got here I saw the police, the ambulance, and I quickly understood. My neighbours didn’t allow me to get out of my car. I almost fainted. They didn’t want to let me into this house. I wasn’t even able to see her for a last time.
‘The day she died, my life ended.’
Maria, who has since forced herself to watch the videos, added: ‘I hope that the name Tiziana Cantone, instead of standing for mockery, becomes a name that could save the lives of other women. I would like this to happen. To save other people.’
Tiziana sent the videos to five men, including her then boyfriend. But it still remains a mystery as to who posted them, and no-one has been charged.
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