Revenge porn has been a pervasive issue in the U.S. military. Last year, the Defense Department had to investigate members of a now-closed Facebook group (called "Marines United") for sharing nude photos of active female military members (the nude image sharers reportedly started a new group once the first one was discovered, as harassing their female counterparts seemed a temptation too great to resist). This scandal led to the U.S. Marine and Navy laws being updated to specifically ban revenge porn, and to nearly 100 female Marine Corps veterans signing an open letter calling for the end of misogyny in the Corps.
It seems though that neither official threat of punishment nor sincere requests for the end of mistreatment could stop some military men from sharing nude photos of their female fellow service members. Vice reports that a Dropbox folder containing hundreds of explicit photos of female U.S. military members, called "Hoes Hoin," has been making the rounds.
Per Vice News:
Some of the photos are selfies, others are clearly taken by another person. Some show women performing sexual acts. A few are of service members fully clothed, in apparent attempt to shame or discredit them. Finally, some photos are crude collages showing a fully clothed service member in uniform on one side and a nude photo of the same woman on the other.
Facebook has since shut down the closed (and exclusively male) group in which the link to the Dropbox folder first appeared — called "Blame Marines United (Non-Butthurt Edition)," and a Dropbox spokesperson told the Cut that the link has been removed.
"This link has been taken down and banned so it cannot be recirculated on Dropbox," the spokesperson said. "As always, we investigate reports of content that violate our Acceptable Use Policy. If we find a violation, we take down the content and, when appropriate, take other measures such as banning the content and/or reporting to law enforcement."
Image via Getty