Jennifer Lawrence Speaks Out on Photo Hacking: 'It's a Sexual Violation'

Jennifer Lawrence

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty

By Kathy Ehrich Dowd

@kathyehrichdowd

10/07/2014 AT 11:10 AM EDT

Jennifer Lawrence has spoken out for the first time since this summer's nude photo hacking, calling it a "sexual violation" and the pictures' illegal release "disgusting."

"Just because I'm a public figure, just because I'm an actress, does not mean that I asked for this," she tells Vanity Fair for its November cover story. "It does not mean that it comes with the territory. It's my body, and it should be my choice, and the fact that it is not my choice is absolutely disgusting. I can't believe that we even live in that kind of world. "

Lawrence, 24, was one of several celebrities whose nude photos were hacked and released online. Private photos of Kate Upton, Ariana Grande and Mary Elizabeth Winstead were also obtained and released without permission, and the FBI is now investigating.

"It is not a scandal. It is a sex crime," Lawrence bluntly tells the magazine. "It is a sexual violation. It's disgusting. The law needs to be changed, and we need to change."

The Oscar winner, who is now linked to Coldplay's Chris Martin, tells the magazine the photos were intended for then-boyfriend Nicholas Hoult, to be viewed only by him before they split this summer.

"I started to write an apology, but I don't have anything to say I'm sorry for," she says of her failed attempt to make a statement just after the story broke. "I was in a loving, healthy, great relationship for four years. It was long distance, and either your boyfriend is going to look at porn or he's going to look at you."

Jennifer Lawrence

Patrick Demarchelier exclusively for Vanity Fair

The Hunger Games actress also has strong words for anyone who looked at the photos – something celebrities including Lena Dunham urged against.

"Anybody who looked at those pictures, you're perpetuating a sexual offense," Lawrence declares. "You should cower with shame. Even people who I know and love say, 'Oh, yeah, I looked at the pictures.' I don't want to get mad, but at the same time I'm thinking, 'I didn't tell you that you could look at my naked body.' "

Despite the strong words, Lawrence says she's attempting to move on from the incident – and keep a healthy attitude about it.

"Time does heal, you know," she says. "I'm not crying about it anymore. I can't be angry anymore. I can't have my happiness rest on these people being caught, because they might not be. I need to just find my own peace."