By Charlotte Webster-
Abusers, predators and bitter ex-partners who share intimate images online without consent of those depicted will face jail time under new measures announced today (27 June 2023).
New amendments to the Online Safety Bill will protect victims of so-called “revenge porn” by changing current laws which require the prosecution to prove that perpetrators shared sexual images or films in order to cause distress.
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It follows a consultation of the Law Commission’s detailed review of the criminal law relating to intimate image abuse included a 3-month public consultation, which closed on 27 May 2021, receiving 354 written responses from members of the public, professionals and organisations including legal professionals, the judiciary.
The Government confirmed that it will take several of the Law Commission’s recommendations forward within the Online Safety Bill and in future legislation to ensure legislation keeps pace with technology and can effectively tackle emerging forms of abuse.
These recommendations include repealing and replacing current legislation with new offences to simplify the law and make it easier to prosecute cases. This includes a new base offence of sharing an intimate image without consent and 2 more serious offences based on intent to cause humiliation, alarm, or distress and for obtaining sexual gratification.
Creation of a specific offence for threatening to share these images.
Criminalising the non-consensual sharing of manufactured intimate images (more commonly known as deepfakes).
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Removing the need for lawyers to prove the intention of distress will make it easier to charge and convict someone who shares intimate images without consent – putting more offenders behind bars and better protecting the public. Those found guilty of this base offence have a maximum penalty of 6 months in custody.
And where it is proven a perpetrator also intended to cause distress, alarm or humiliation, or to obtain sexual gratification, they could face a 2-year prison term. Offenders found guilty of sharing the image for sexual gratification could also be placed on the sex offender register.
The reforms follow the campaigning of Georgia Harrison, who was the victim of image based abuse at the hands of her former partner, and Dame Maria Miller MP as well as recommendations from the Law Commission, to introduce reforms to the laws covering the abuse of images.
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, Alex Chalk KC, said:
”We are cracking down on abusers who share or manipulate intimate photos in order to hound or humiliate women and girls.
Our changes will give police and prosecutors the powers they need to bring these cowards to justice, safeguarding women and girls from such vile abuse.
Campaigner Georgia Harrison said:
”The reforms to the law that has been passed today are going to go down in history as a turning point for generations to come and will bring peace of mind to so many victims who have reached out to me whilst also giving future victim’s the justice they deserve.
I’m so grateful to everyone who supported me throughout this campaign and it just goes to show how amazing our country is that the government have reacted so quickly to push through these amendments.
For the first time, the sharing of ‘deep fake’ intimate images – explicit images or videos which have been digitally manipulated to look like someone else – will also be criminalised.
Deepfakes typically involve the use of editing software to make and share fake images of a person without their consent, which are often pornographic in nature.
This type of image has been increasing in recent years with a website that virtually strips women naked receiving 38 million hits in the first 8 months of 2021.
Minister for Technology and the Digital Economy, Paul Scully, said:
”The unsolicited sharing and manipulation of intimate photos is a cowardly and revolting thing to do and has an absolutely devastating impact on the lives of women and girls across the UK.
The Online Safety Bill will make the UK the safest place in the world to be online. These new laws set a global standard for bringing justice to those who share these images, protecting women and girls from this shocking abuse.
Research shows 1 in 7 women and 1 in 9 men aged between 18 and 34 have experienced threats to share intimate images, with more than 28,000 reports of disclosing private sexual images without consent recorded by police between April 2015 and December 2021.
By broadening the scope of current intimate image offences through the Online Safety Bill, more perpetrators will face prosecution and potentially time in jail.
Justice Minister, Edward Argar, said:
”No-one should ever fear that their intimate images will be put online without their consent and the true courage shown by Georgia Harrison to tell her story will help empower more victims to come forward and get the justice they deserve.
Our reforms will make it easier to convict these vile individuals and protect women from being subject to such predatory abuse.
Domestic Abuse Commissioner, Nicole Jacobs, said:
”Intimate image abuse causes significant distress to victims and survivors, and often exists as part of a wider pattern of abuse that continues offline.
I am pleased to see these changes in the Online Safety Bill that will hold perpetrators to account for this insidious form of abuse and hope to see it pass soon.
Ruth Davison, CEO of Refuge, said:
”Refuge welcomes these amendments to the Online Safety Bill. Intimate image abuse is a multifaceted and complex form of domestic abuse, which can be perpetrated in many ways. In 2021, threatening to share intimate images was criminalised, following the success of Refuge’s ‘The Naked Threat’ campaign.
At Refuge, we know that conviction rates for intimate image abuse remain woefully low. The amendments to the Online Safety Bill announced today will make it easier to prosecute perpetrators of intimate image abuse, ensuring justice and better protections for survivors.
The overhaul of intimate image law builds on government action in recent years to better protect victims and bring more offenders to justice. This includes making ‘upskirting’ and ‘breastfeeding voyeurism’ specific criminal offences, extending ‘revenge porn’ laws to capture threats to share such images, and using the Online Safety Bill to create an offence specifically targeting ‘cyberflashing’.
The government has committed to bringing forward wider reforms around intimate images, following the Law Commission’s detailed review, as soon as parliamentary time allows.
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