Ayu:
My life was normal as a college student. I went through my days with lectures and friendships.
I used to be in a relationship with someone. We broke up, but I never expected him to do something like this.
A WhatsApp message came from my friend. A screenshot with my face, but the body in the photo wasn't me.
Ayu's friend:
"This can't be you, right?"
My head was spinning. The photo was perfectly edited. Below it was a message promoting 'open BO'.
Ayu:
"She believed me, but she also felt she had to tell me that someone had edited my photo like that."
I immediately panicked. Deleted the screenshot that was automatically saved. I didn't recognize the number that spread the photo.
Ayu:
"Then I also checked with other friends and my family, did anyone get a chat like that too?"
It took about a week to breathe a sigh of relief. But my daily life was still haunted by anxiety, shame, and invisible threats.
Suspicion pointed to one person: my ex-boyfriend.
Ex-boyfriend:
"Just for fun."
Accompanied by a friend, I confronted him. He admitted it was 'just for fun' and apologized.
The face photo that was spread, I had only ever sent it to him.
The incident left deep trauma. But I chose not to report it. Not to family, not to campus, and not to the police.
Ayu:
"Honestly scared and traumatized, but I just didn't want to go anywhere, more afraid that it would become a prolonged affair."
I was afraid of stigma. Afraid of judgment. Afraid my case would drag on.
All I wanted then was to make sure the photo didn't spread further.
Two of my friends turned out to have received similar messages. Fortunately, it didn't spread widely.
My ex-boyfriend promised not to spread it again and had deleted the photo.
Ayu:
"I wanted to, like, just forget about it."
"Even though after that I really felt uncomfortable continuously because I knew my photo had been edited and used for slander like that."
Ayu:
"I try to move on, but the shadow of that incident still follows."
The trauma from deepfake is not just about fake photos, but about betrayed trust and stolen security.
Ayu's story illustrates how visual manipulation technology can destroy a person's sense of security, even when the perpetrator is someone once trusted.
Technology is never neutral; when patriarchy and all forms of violence take control, it becomes poison that spreads trauma. And again, women must fight and endure.