BOSTON - A unanimous vote in the Massachusetts House of Representatives this week advanced a bill banning revenge porn to the state Senate for consideration.

Massachusetts is one of only two states in the country that doesn’t have a law banning revenge porn. Revenge porn is the act of posting private images without consent.

State Rep. Natalie Higgins, D-Leominster, has been a champion of this legislation, adding more to it than just revenge porn by redefining the meaning of abuse in Mass General Law to include mental abuse and coercive control.

“For image-based sexual assault, or revenge porn, and coercive control really helps the community understand the depths and the different stories of domestic violence that happen in our community, and it's not just always physical,” Higgins said.

A big reason for having these terms defined in the law is so there is precedent for judges across the state to grant restraining orders to victims of domestic abuse. Many don’t grant a restraining order, according to Higgins, unless there is physical violence.

“For so many survivors, broken bones and bruises heal," she said. "But the psychological trauma is so much harder to heal and cope with.”

The bill now heads to the state Senate, and Higgins hopes they take it up quickly, because every day that goes by without this law on the books, she says, could mean the difference in life and death for a victim.