MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico’s Congress approved legislation on Thursday to combat the publication of private sexual videos, images or audios without the consent of those depicted, with punishment of up to six years in prison for the crime.
The measures against what is often called “revenge porn” passed the federal lower house of Congress by a vote of 446 in favor and one against, the chamber said.
The Senate had already approved the initiative, which strengthens a law to protect women against violence, as well as the penal code. It goes now to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to be signed into law.
Most of Mexico’s 32 regional legislatures have already passed their own strictures against the unauthorized sharing of intimate sexual photos and videos.
Collectively, the measures are widely known as the “Ley Olimpia” (Olimpia Law) after Olimpia Coral Melo, a young Mexican woman who has battled to criminalize revenge porn after a video posted online in 2013 showed her engaged in sex.
(Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
