Cosmopolitan has an excellent piece describing the perils and pain of cyber-harassment and cyber-rape.

Victims experience exactly the same feelings as rape victims do, including post-traumatic stress disorder, severe social anxiety, depression, and paranoia.

The piece describes five things you can do to fight back against a cyber rapist:

“5 WAYS TO SHUT IT DOWN

When Charlotte Laws’ daughter was a target of revenge porn in 2012, the social ethics PhD and former California councilwoman began a crusade to end what she calls cyber rape. She tells what to do if a photo leak happens to you.

COPYRIGHT YOUR PICS: If you took the photos, you can send take-down notices to any site using them, including hosts and search engines. To strengthen your case, register the snaps at Copyright.gov.

TAKE IT TO THE TOP Even if you don’t own the photos, contact the web host for the site. Large or U.S.-based companies don’t want to get sued, says Laws. She worked with the company hosting the site with her daughter’s photos to block the pics within days.

GET BACK OUT THERE: “The first thing girls want to do is shut down all their accounts,” says Laws. She says to do the opposite: Join online groups, make profiles, blog. The more material you post, the further down your photos get buried.

STAY ALERT: Set a Google Alert for your name: If a pic pops up, you’ll be ready with a take-down notice.

GET PAYBACK: Visit ArmyOfShe.com for a list of attorneys and advocates. Lawyers building a class-action suit may represent you for free.”