Cyber violence in Puerto Rico: revenge porn, sextortion, grooming, and which law applies

An electronic communication is, per the Judiciary, one made through email, written communications or conversations using apps, video calls, text messages, chats, social media, websites or any other digital medium through which a person receives or sends information. Anyone can be a victim of cyber violence, although the Judiciary notes that studies show this kind of violence has specific consequences and disproportionate harms against women and girls, and that when based on gender prejudice, stereotypes or roles it is an extension of the inequality existing outside the cyber world. Domestic violence can occur or be perpetuated using information and communication technologies, and those who commit sexual violence can use them to reach victims or cause greater harm.

Anyone can be a victim. Which remedy applies depends on the form and on the relationship with the aggressor: if a partner relationship exists or existed, Ley 54-1989 applies; if not, the civil route is the Ley 284-1999 stalking protection order. If the victim is a minor and what happened is online sexual solicitation or child pornography, Article 124 of the Penal Code applies; if it happens in a school setting, Ley 85-2017 against bullying prohibits harassment including its cyber form in schools and requires protocols for handling it. Non-consensual disclosure of intimate material and extortion by threatening to disclose it are criminalized by Ley 121-2021.

• Documenting the violence suffered: taking screenshots on your device and taking notes of the different incidents or situations.Verified against the official source
• Preserving the collected evidence for when the case is heard in court.Verified against the official source
• The cyber modality of Ley 54-1989 requires no pattern of conduct: committing it can be a felony of abuse or threat.Verified against the official source
• Cyber harassment likewise requires no repeated conduct: one occurrence is enough for the person to feel harassed, unlike cyberstalking.Verified against the official source

• Screenshots of the communications, posts or disclosed material, and notes of the incidents with their dates. The Judiciary’s page publishes no formal document list.

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   Step 1: Name what is happening to you

   The Judiciary’s first recommended step is to identify which form of cyber violence you have suffered, because where to turn depends on it. Revenge porn: disclosing or threatening to disclose intimate material or sexually graphic images without consent, whether material voluntarily exchanged in a private relationship or material created or obtained without consent, for example through hacking or filming. Cyberharassment, cyberstalking: harassing through electronic communication in a digital pattern of abuse that lowers the sense of safety and causes fear, distress or alarm. Sexual extortion or sextortion: using intimate material as leverage, threatening to disclose it in exchange for money, for more material, or to force sexual relations.

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   Step 2: If a minor is involved, there are specific names for it

   Online sexual grooming: when an adult gains the trust of and befriends a child or adolescent through electronic communication — internet, social media, messaging apps, email, gaming platforms — in order to obtain images or videos of a sexual nature of the minor, or to later involve them in sexual activity. Child pornography: knowingly using any electronic communication to contact, seduce, persuade, induce, lure, tempt, manipulate, coerce or convince a minor to provide intimate material. Cyberbullying: cyber harassment of minors in the school setting, including creating pages or profiles impersonating another person or making it appear another person authored something, in order to harass, bother, intimidate or distress a student or a group.

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   Step 3: Document first

   Documenting the violence matters enormously: take screenshots on your device and notes of the different incidents or situations. Preserve the collected evidence for when the case is heard in court. This holds whether you report today or later.

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   Step 4: Assess your safety with the court’s questions

   The Judiciary suggests asking yourself: do you know the aggressor? do you know whether they have a history of violence? is the threat aimed at you or general? does it include your name, a time, a place or a method of attack? has the violence moved between different apps — Facebook to Instagram, say — or out of the digital world into voice messages on your phone, packages at your home, your workplace or regular mail? That movement is what separates a nuisance from an escalation.

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   Step 5: Report it where it happened, and to the Police

   Report to the authorities immediately. If the incidents happened in the school community, go to the school authorities; Ley 85-2017 against bullying prohibits harassment including its cyber form in schools and requires protocols for handling it. If they happened at work, notify your supervisors. And file a complaint with all the collected information with the Police.

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   Step 6: Choose the civil route that fits

   On the civil side, a protection order bars someone from approaching, threatening or contacting you. If a partner relationship exists or existed, the route is Ley 54-1989 on domestic violence. If no such relationship exists, the route is Ley 284-1999 on stalking. Both are requested through the Tribunal Electrónico and each has its own guide on this site.

The criminal complaint, at the Puerto Rico Police, with all the evidence collected. If it happened at school, before the school authorities; if at work, before your supervisors. Protection orders, through the Judiciary’s Tribunal Electrónico.

• Deleting the messages or posts before documenting them: take screenshots and keep the evidence for court.
• Believing a single incident does not count: cyber harassment requires no repeated conduct, and Ley 54’s cyber modality requires no pattern.
• Requesting the order under Ley 54 when no partner relationship exists or existed: in that case the route is stalking, Ley 284-1999.
• Reporting only to the platform and not to the authorities: at school it goes to school authorities, at work to your supervisors, and in every case to the Police.
• Sharing the material “to report it”: spreading it is part of the harm, and the court itself asks you not to.
• Treating grooming as a matter between the minor and a stranger: it is criminalized in Article 124 of the Penal Code.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Poder Judicial de Puerto Rico

  Poder Judicial

  poderjudicial.pr

• Judiciary’s Tribunal Electrónico

  Poder Judicial

  poderjudicial.pr