"Who wants my ex?": The vile websites where intimate images of women from Manchester are shared

Forums where people share private intimate images of men and women include dedicated threads to people in Manchester.

The sickening websites allow users to request intimate images of specific individuals, as well as ‘trade’ pictures. The Manchester Evening News has seen posts asking to be sent nude images of individuals in Manchester, as well as users advertising nude images of their exes and wives.

Billed as places to share 'NSFW' (Not Safe For Work) content and discuss adult content creators, the forums often take a much more sinister turn. "Where in Manchester does she live?," one user asks under a set of images - and promptly receives a response.

"Who wants my ex?," another user writes in a forum dedicated to women from Manchester, and is offered a 'trade' - the advertised pictures, for videos and 'details' of another user's ex-partner.

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Different forums where men request intimate pictures of other men, including named individuals in Manchester, are also prevalent. Requests to 'ID' men or share intimate images of individuals are posted daily.

The sharing of intimate images without consent with the aim of upsetting or embarrassing someone - known as ‘revenge porn’ - has been a criminal offence since 2015. However, data from domestic violence charity Refuge shows from January 2019 to July 2022, only around four per cent of reports resulted in charges.

The M.E.N has chosen not to name these websites in order to avoid publicising them. However, when we visited each of these websites, we found links to hundreds of forums, including ones labelled 'Pictures of my EX', 'Post your wife UK', and a 'Requests' forum bragging: 'Leave a request for a girl's leaked nudes here and get them for free!'.

As well as revenge porn and sharing intimate images, links on the websites also advertise ‘deepfake’ technology allowing users to upload images of anyone and create realistic pornographic videos and images using Artificial Intelligence (AI).

One site tells users they can 'undress any girl for free', with 'customisation' options that enable users to select the age and body type to 'align with their preferences'.

Specialist police officers have previously told the M.E.N how intimate images created by this technology are sometimes 'almost impossible' to tell apart from real images. The force's Online Child Abuse Investigation Team (OCAIT) also discussed a recent surge in these computer-generated images depicting children.

Detective Inspector Zoe Marsden, who heads up OCAIT, said historically computer-generated imagery has been charged as prohibited images, which only carries a six month sentence at Magistrates Court, or three years if it is referred up to Crown Court - giving judges much lesser sentencing powers than in cases of photographs.

But in some computer-generated image cases the images have often been derived from an actual photograph, meaning the law doesn't fit neatly. Working with the Home Office and CPS, the team hope to change that to see these images treated the same as photographs.

This problem is not unique to Manchester. Many of the forums have threads dedicated to cities across the UK including Liverpool, Doncaster, and Wales.

On their website, Greater Manchester Police advise victims of revenge porn to save any evidence of the content being shared online, block all communication with the person targeting you, and report any accounts the person has used to contact you or share the material on.

"We understand that it might be difficult to report this type of crime to us, but our officers are here to listen and to support you in any way we can."

If you've been affected by this story, contact newsdesk@men-news.co.uk