People who have endured sexual assault, revenge porn or defamation, for example, may not pursue legal claims if they know they could be subjected to threats or harassment, attorneys said.

“Very few folks, even when genuinely injured, seek to vindicate their rights,” said Nora Freeman Engstrom, co-director of the Deborah L. Rhode Center on the Legal Profession at Stanford Law School. “To the extent that those who enter the system are harassed, threatened and otherwise victimized, we can expect that even fewer will file.”