The Revenge Porn Helpline welcomes the Crown Prosecution Service’s (CPS) new guidance aimed at ensuring perpetrators of intimate image abuse can no longer keep NCII content of their victims after a conviction. This is a significant step towards the ongoing protection for victims, many of whom live in fear that their images could be re-shared at any moment. However, while this change is a move in the right direction, it does not go far enough. Stronger legislation is urgently required to make non-consensual intimate imagery unequivocally illegal.
Raising the Concern Around Perpetrator Devices
Earlier this year the Revenge Porn Helpline worked with The Observer in a recent investigation that revealed that magistrates’ courts routinely fail to issue deprivation orders, which would mandate perpetrators to delete images and surrender devices containing NCII content used to offend. Alarmingly, of 98 cases analysed, only three resulted in such an order, meaning that in the vast majority of cases, perpetrators were allowed to keep the very material used to abuse their victims. This inaction has left survivors in an ongoing state of distress, fearing future exploitation.
The CPS has now acknowledged these failings and is set to update their guidance to advise prosecutors to prioritise deprivation orders early in case strategy. This guidance should lead to more consistent enforcement of device confiscations post-conviction, ensuring perpetrators are stripped of their means to continue harming victims. As part of the wider protection, we would hope to see updated guidance for magistrates and judges to ensure sentencers are fully aware of the deprivation orders they are permitted to make in these cases.
Does This Go Far Enough?
As we have raised across our ten year campaign, these measures are still falling short of addressing the main issue - that the viewing and possession of non-consensual intimate imagery is not comprehensively criminalised in the same way as CSAM. Victims often face hurdles at every stage—investigations that fail to prioritise confiscation of devices, prosecutions that do not consistently lead to convictions, and sentencing that allows perpetrators to retain their illicit materials.
It remains unclear how far this guidance will go, whether all aspects of possession will be addressed such as cloud storage/online accounts or whether it is just going to account for physical devices. Does this recognise the risk of onward sharing, and will this content be addressed if it has moved on from the perpetrator’s original device? We have spoken extensively about how the use of an NCII register will address many of these areas – providing an actionable list of confirmed NCII content that ISPs will need to remove as a mandatory practice. Without this fundamental change in legislation, these gaps will persist.
Sophie Mortimer (Manager of the Revenge Porn Helpline) said: "The CPS’s move to update guidance around deprivation orders is an important step forward in tackling intimate image abuse. For too long, individuals affected by this crime have been left in fear, knowing that perpetrators could continue to view and even re-share their content after a conviction. This is a significant step but until the possession and viewing of non-consensual intimate imagery is fully criminalised in the same way as CSAM—we will continue to see gaps in the law that will need to be addressed. We urgently need stronger legislation to fully protect victims from further harm."
Additionally, Law Professor Clare McGlynn stresses that, while these updates mark progress, they will only benefit the small number of victims whose cases result in conviction. The vast majority of survivors still struggle to see their cases investigated, let alone prosecuted. And for many, reporting to the police will not be an option, because they are unable to confirm their perpetrator due to location or due to anonymity, or due to fear of retaliation– regardless, if a crime has been committed, the same just outcome should be met. Government and the CPS must therefore continue improving its approach to intimate image abuse, ensuring that more victims can obtain justice.
The Revenge Porn Helpline continues to call for improved legislative action. We urge policymakers to prioritise a legal framework that criminalises non-consensual intimate imagery in the same way as child sexual abuse material which would protect victims across a much broader spectrum.
