Making videos or secretly photographing people under their clothes or sharing “deepfake” pornography without consent could result in prison sentences of up to three years, according to the recommendations of the England and Wales Law Commission.
Reforms expand the scope of criminal law to protect victims from having intimate images taken or shared without their consent, practices known as downblousing and upskirting, or their faces overlapping pornographic images and circulating without their consent. .
But activists say the reforms are not going far enough and that the government is making a “grave mistake” in not taking a tougher stance.
“Sharing intimate images of a person without their consent can be incredibly distressing and detrimental to victims, with the experience often marking them for a lifetime,” said Professor Penney Lewis, a criminal law commissioner.
Lewis said these crimes were currently being dealt with under a “patchwork” of criminal offenses that had not kept pace with technology. Gaps in the law allow perpetrators to evade prosecution.
“Current laws about taking or sharing sexual or nude images of someone without their consent are inconsistent, based on a reduced set of motivations, and not going far enough to cover up new disturbing and abusive behaviors born in the age of smartphones. “Smart,” he said.
The new legal framework, which after a detailed review, would expand the law, expanding the scope of offenses so that anyone who intentionally takes or shares intimate images without consent is criminalized, regardless of their motivation.
The law would also be simplified, making it easier to secure processing for a wider range of behaviors. The sentences will be harsher: up to three years in prison for the most serious abuses.
The recommendations also update the law to cover more modern forms of abuse that are not currently crimes. For example, under current law, while upskirting and voyeurism are criminalized, “downblousing” is not. Nor is it to share altered intimate images of people without their consent, including pornographic fakes and “naked” images.
Reforms also recommend offering lifelong anonymity to all victims of abuse.
Emily Hunt, an activist for victims of sex crimes and an independent adviser to the Justice Department, said the reforms were a vital step in ensuring greater protection for victims.
“Taking or sharing sexual or nude images of someone without their consent can alter life and cause lasting harm,” he said. “It has been a long time since a change of law has been made and it is right that, according to these proposals, all the perpetrators of these acts should be prosecuted.”
But Vanessa Morse, CEO of Cease (Center to End All Sexual Exploitation), said more needed to be done. “The law should also suppress the high volume of non-consensual content that appears on pornographic websites,” he said. “We know it can’t be trusted that the porn industry is self – regulating and has facilitated and taken advantage of this horrible practice for years.
“Crucially, pornography platforms should be created, by law, to verify the age and consent of those appearing on uploads. This is the only way to prevent non-consensual material from being uploaded in the first place, and Mastercard has already adopted it as a policy.The government has the opportunity to impose these changes on the porn industry through the online security bill, but is currently choosing not to do so. error “.
This article was modified on July 7, 2022 to remove an inappropriate image.