Politics

Calls for overhaul of revenge porn and sexual abuse laws that 'let down' women


Women are being let down by laws which fail to protect them from image-based sexual abuse such as revenge porn and fake porn offences, a report warns today.

Victims say an “unfamiliar, complex and shifting terrain” of changing laws and online regulation is leaving them in limbo, according to Shattered Lives and Myths: a Report on Image-Based Sexual Abuse.

Advances in technology have also outpaced existing legislation, prompting calls for a shake-up so such abuse is treated as a sexual offence.

Report author Clare McGlynn, professor of law at Durham University, said: “Image-based sexual abuse can shatter lives, often experienced as an entire ‘social rupture’ of their world.

“We must overhaul our out-of-date and piecemeal laws, including criminalising the paralysing and life-threatening impact of threats, and recognising the significant harms of fake porn.”

The Government announced last week that the Law Commission has been asked to consider whether current legislation goes far enough.

Researchers say existing laws are insufficient to deal with crimes such as revenge porn, fake porn and upskirting.

Laws leave women in ‘limbo’ the report warns

 

University academics spent six months surveying victims of image-based sexual abuse, as well as police, lawyers and support workers.

“Due to the serious legal and policy failings identified in this report, we are effectively gambling with people’s lives,” said Prof McGlynn.

“We need a comprehensive new law criminalising all forms of non-consensual taking or sharing of sexual images, including threats and altered images.

“We must do far more to support victims to reclaim control of their lives, with better resourced and specialist support to get images taken down, as well as free and accessible legal advice and advocacy.”

Revenge porn – the sharing of private or sexual images or videos of a person without their consent – became an offence in April 2015.

But it but falls under communications legislation, meaning victims are not granted automatic anonymity like under sexual offences laws.

Fake porn refers to images or videos where a victim’s face is digitally copied and pasted onto a naked body.

The offence is not covered by a specific law, meaning hauling offenders to court can be difficult.

Upskirting became a criminal offence in April 2019 following a high-profile campaign.

However, academics said the law fails to cover grey areas about motive.

Maria Miller
Maria Miller welcomed the report

 

Welcoming the study published today, Commons Women and Equalities Select Committee chairwoman Maria Miller said: “What this report does is provide even more evidence of the impact that image-based sexual abuse can have on individuals.

“The law is supposed to treat crimes that happen online in the same way it would treat that offence happening on the street, so one hopes that the Government is taking note that things need to change.

“There needs to be a specific offence for image-based sexual abuse.”

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