The book · BenBella Books · March 30, 2027

Call It What It Is

A Survivor's Guide to Navigating 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.

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Inside the book

Part memoir. Part legal guide. Part survival manual.

Call It What It Is is part memoir, part legal guide and part survival manual. Susanna Gibson writes from inside the experience: intimate recordings of her were circulated without her consent in the final weeks of her campaign for the Virginia House of Delegates, and the abuse that followed was national, relentless and public.

Naming it: why “revenge porn” is the wrong word

The first 48 hours

Getting it taken down

Locking down your digital life

Civil and criminal remedies, state by state

Deepfakes and synthetic abuse

Your mind, your body, your recovery

How to support a survivor

Changing the law

Who it is for

Written for the worst day, and every day after.

The book turns that experience into a practical roadmap for survivors and the people who love them: how to get intimate imagery taken down, how to protect your digital privacy, what civil and criminal remedies exist and how to use them, how to care for your mental health, how to support a survivor without causing more harm, and how to push for the policy reform that is still badly needed.

Survivors

A calm, step-by-step companion for the first 48 hours and the long road after, written by someone who has walked it.

Parents, partners and friends

What to say, what not to say, and how to help with evidence, reporting and care.

Advocates, clinicians and educators

Plain-language definitions, the state of the law and survivor-centered practices you can put to work.

Journalists and policymakers

Context on why language matters, how these crimes are weaponized and what effective legislation looks like.

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Reserve your copy.

Preorders tell booksellers, libraries and media that this conversation matters. Every copy reserved before March 2027 helps put the book in front of the people who need it.

Bulk orders of 25 or more for organizations, campuses and book clubs? Email shop@benbellabooks.com. More retailer links will be added as they become available.

Trade paperback: $19.95; ISBN 9798902680581
E-book (ePub): $13.99; ISBN 9798902680598

The author

Susanna Gibson.

A nurse practitioner by training, Susanna Gibson entered public life as the 2023 Democratic nominee for Virginia's House District 57. In the final weeks of that campaign, intimate recordings of her were circulated without her consent. She turned a very public ordeal into a national movement: she founded MyOwn Image, a survivor-centered nonprofit focused on support, education and policy reform, and MyOwn PAC, which backs candidates committed to ending intimate privacy violations. Her work has informed bipartisan legislation, and she speaks across the country about consent, modernizing laws for the digital age and the power of reclaiming your narrative.

Full biography

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.

Book Susanna Topics and formats