Susanna Gibson · Author, advocate, founder of MyOwn
Naming image-based abuse for what it is, and changing the laws that let it happen. Call it what it is.
Nurse practitioner. Former candidate. Survivor turned expert on image-based sexual abuse, sexually explicit deepfakes and the policy that is finally catching up.
Author of Call It What It Is, BenBella Books, March 2027. Richmond, Virginia. Founder of MyOwn Image and MyOwn PAC, est. 2024.
Coverage and commentary in
- The New York Times
- The Washington Post
- Associated Press
- CNN
- NBC News
- The 19th
- NewsNation
- 404 Media
The book · BenBella Books, March 2027
Call It What It Is
A survivor's guide to image-based abuse, from “revenge porn” to deepfakes. Image-based abuse is sexual violence. Whether the images are real and shared without consent, or fabricated by artificial intelligence, the harm is real, the shame is misplaced, and the path forward is clearer than it feels in the first terrible hours.
Part memoir, part legal guide, part survival manual, written by someone who lived it, named it and then wrote the model legislation. Preorder now and be first to read it.
Expertise
What she works on.
Six fronts, one subject: how intimate images are weaponized, who it targets, and what the law, platforms and newsrooms can do about it.
Image-based sexual abuse
Sexually explicit deepfakes
Technology-facilitated abuse
Law and policy
Women in public life
Survivor-centered practice
On air
Could the Take It Down Act be misused?
Susanna joins NewsNation to discuss the Take It Down Act, what it gets right, and where enforcement against nonconsensual intimate images, including AI deepfakes, still falls short.
NewsNation Prime, March 8, 2025
Resources
Start here.
Everything on this site, organized by what you need: the vocabulary, the first steps, the law and the organizations Susanna founded.
Writing
Clear words for a hard subject.
What is image-based abuse? A plain-language guide
Real images shared without consent, recordings made in secret, deepfakes, sextortion. These are different crimes with one thing in common: they are sexual abuse, and the words we use decide how seriously we take them.
Read more
The first 48 hours: what to do when your intimate images are shared without consent
Deepfakes are not a loophole: how the law is catching up to synthetic abuse
How to support someone whose intimate images were shared
A reporter's guide to covering image-based abuse without doing more harm
Speaking and consulting
Bring the conversation to your stage, newsroom or statehouse.
Keynotes, workshops, testimony and consulting on image-based abuse, deepfakes and consent, delivered with the credibility of lived experience and the precision of model legislation.
Keynotes
30 to 60 minutes, with optional moderated Q&A.
Fireside chats and panels
Interviews, moderated conversations and panel participation.
Workshops and trainings
Half-day and full-day sessions for advocates, clinicians, educators, campus staff and trust-and-safety teams.
Testimony and briefings
Legislative testimony, policy briefings and model-bill consultation.
“Revenge porn” blames the victim and misnames the crime. Call it what it is.
From the book