Nobody’s Victim – An unnerving and unflinching look at online harrassmen​t

NOBODY’S VICTIM is an unflinching look at a hidden world most people don’t know exists – one of stalking, blackmail, and sexual violence, online and off – and the incredible story of how one lawyer, determined to fight back, turned her own hell into a revolution. 

“We are all a moment away from having our life overtaken by somebody hell-bent on our destruction.” That grim reality – gleaned from personal experience and twenty years of trauma work – is a fundamental principle of Carrie Goldberg’s cutting-edge victims’ rights law firm.  

Riveting and an essential timely conversation-starter, NOBODY’S VICTIM invites readers to join Carrie on the front lines of the war against sexual violence and privacy violations as she fights for revenge porn and sextortion laws, uncovers major Title IX violations, and sues the hell out of tech companies, schools, and powerful sexual predators. Her battleground is the courtroom; her crusade is to transform clients from victims into warriors.

In gripping detail, Carrie shares the diabolical ways her clients are attacked and how she, through her unique combination of advocacy, badass relentlessness, risk-taking, and client-empowerment, pursues justice for them all. There are stories about a woman whose ex-boyfriend made fake bomb threats in her name and caused a national panic; a fifteen-year-old girl who was sexually assaulted on school grounds and then suspended when she reported the attack; and a man whose ex-boyfriend used a dating app to send more than 1,200 men to ex’s home and work for sex. With breathtaking honesty, Carrie also shares her own shattering story about why she began her work and the uphill battle of building a business.

While her clients are a diverse group-from every gender, sexual orientation, age, class, race, religion, occupation, and background-the offenders are not. They are highly predictable. In this book, Carrie offers a taxonomy of the four types of offenders she encounters most often at her firm: assholes, psychos, pervs, and trolls. ‘If we recognise the patterns of these perpetrators,’ she explains, ‘we know how to fight back.;

Deeply personal yet achingly universal, NOBODY’S VICTIM is a bold and much-needed analysis of victim protection in the era of the Internet. This book is an urgent warning of a coming crisis, a predictor of imminent danger, and a weapon to take back control and protect ourselves-both online and off.

Duffy’s Thoughts On Nobody’s Victim

Nobody’s Victim is a must-read for anyone who has gone through the trauma of online trolling and harassment or works in law. Carrie Goldberg shares her career journey, firstly supporting victims of Nazi Germany before becoming a victims’ rights lawyer in Brooklyn, litigating for victims of stalking, sexual assault, and blackmail. In Nobody’s Victim, Goldberg shares the frustrating, gut-wrenching and tragic cases involving the people she has fought and won for and continues to support.

I had an online stalker creep troll a while ago, and the harassment, even though mild in comparison to some of these extreme cases haunted me for over a year. Comments, remarks online, fake accounts and slow, sporadic escalation. The troll got hold of my mobile number and made threats of a sexual and violent nature. Where could I go? I thought I had options and I took some steps which I thought would make it stop.

My steps to try and block an online troll

• I locked down my security settings, location and comments – this helped a bit, but I had to screen every new interaction and follower because old mate was creating fake accounts. How did I spot them? Well, each account had the same terrible grammar and spelling mistakes.
• I reported to Facebook – I received no reply
• I reported to Instagram – I received no reply
• I reported to WhatsApp – I received a message saying that they would look into it internally, but would not be updating me
• I went to the cops. They were brilliant and understanding, and I filed a report. But, ultimately, what could they do with a ghost?
• I did some research and found that the trolls number was registered in Ireland. I contacted the phone carrier with screenshots and was told ‘So sorry to hear that, but we can’t help or disclose information on any person’. I was also told it was a pay as you go mobile, which may mean it wasn’t even registered to a name.’

So that’s where I was at. I just had to ignore, block, ignore, block and pretend it didn’t get to me until they moved on somewhere else. Bothering someone else.

Carrie Goldberg is a legend. She paves the way for all kinds of people who have experienced extreme online harassment to get justice. She is constantly trying to find a way to change laws to protect victims and remove the force field which currently protects platforms such as Facebook, Grindr and Snapchat. from The current laws relieve these global machines from taking any responsibility for the messages, propaganda and abuse which spews out of their platforms. Literally destroying lives.

Who Should Read Nobody’s Victim?

Yes, Nobody’s Victim has a glowing review from Tarana Burke, founder of the Me Too movement, but Carrie Goldbergs chooses to fight for EVERYONE, no matter your gender, demographic or social standing. Internet harassment, abuse and trolling can affect anyone, celebrities, moms, single men, women and children. Even the dead are having memorial pages trolled and defiled.

Nobody’s Victim is an interesting read which will open your eyes to the vastness of the problem and the non-existent legal responsibilities these global online platforms have. Which is quite scary when most of us live our lives and share our personal stories and photos on them every day.

Be prepared to throw your copy at the wall in frustration and cry at the cruelty that humans seem to enjoy inflicting on each other, hidden behind keyboards and screens.

A Duffy 5 Star Read!

You might also like Eggshell Skull, Outnumbered, and All The Ghosts In The Machine. Available for delivery from Booktopia