#YouKnowHerName: Canadians defy gag order on victim’s name in child pornography case
Hashtag trends after sentencing of man who circulated photos of alleged sexual assault.
Canadians online are defying a court-ordered publication ban on the name of an alleged sexual assault victim in a high profile child pornography case. On Thursday, a court sentenced a man who pleaded guilty to spreading photos of the victim.
Rehtaeh Parsons, 17, died in 2013 after attempting suicide following the circulation of photos of her alleged assault, resulting in what the family describes as months of cyber-bullying. The man found guilty of the circulating photos, whose name has not been released since he was 17 at the time, was sentenced to a conditional discharge, avoiding jail time.
Canadian media outlets were banned from publishing Parsons’ name due to a law against releasing the names of victims of child pornography.
In response to the publication ban, freelance journalist Hilary Beaumont started #youknowhername while reporting on the recent trial: