BTOn October 9th 2024, SWGfL’s Revenge Porn Helpline, UK Safer Internet Centre and PA Consulting organised an event at Parliament to address non-consensual intimate image abuse (NCII). The event aimed to raise awareness of the pervasiveness of NCII, advocate for changes in the law to prevent the sharing and viewing of NCII content and improve support for victims and survivors.
As part of the event, a panel of experts and campaigners joined a room full of various stakeholders to share their knowledge, including Leigh Nichol, a survivor of NCII abuse; Fran Ridout, a criminal barrister from Queen Mary University London; Angela Craggs from the Metropolitan Police's Violence Against Women and Girls unit; Courtney Gregoire, Microsoft's Head of Global Digital Safety; Sarah Owen MP, Chair of the Women and Equalities Committee; and Sophie Mortimer, Manager of the Revenge Porn Helpline.
The Challenges in Combating NCII
The event looked at the key challenges around removing NCII online, with the Revenge Porn Helpline highlighting that around 30,000 reported non-consensual intimate images remain online due to issues with laws and international boundaries.
Looking at how the remaining NCII content can be removed, jurisdictional issues were highlighted as a significant limitation due to many NCII images being hosted on websites outside the UK, in countries that allow this type of content or do nothing to stop it. Due to these websites being beyond the legal reach of the UK, it becomes significantly harder to remove NCII.
In addition, gaps in UK law were also reported as a significant barrier. The event highlighted that whilst the Online Safety Act aims to tackle the sharing of intimate images without consent, it doesn’t go far enough due to the current law not making the images themselves illegal. Additionally, the Online Safety Act doesn’t require perpetrators to have their devices taken away, causing those affected by intimate image abuse to be at risk of seeing their images resurface.
Proposed Solutions to Tackle NCII
The event highlighted a plan to create an NCII Register, a list of specific images and videos that are classified as illegal through a court process, which would strengthen removal abilities and allow internet providers to block access to content, ensuring victims are better protected.
It was also suggested that the StopNCII.org database could also be utilised to ensure any registered content would be hashed and prevented from being shared across participating social media and adult content websites.
Preventing Offenders from Keeping NCII
Discussions were also held around how a current loophole that enables offenders to keep NCII needs to be closed to ensure victims are better protected, and several measures were suggested to prevent offenders from storing NCII content.
Potential measures included permanent confiscation and destruction of devices containing NCII to prevent further harm. Alongside this, to prevent offenders from accessing or sharing content again, court orders could be used to ensure all NCII related to a case would be deleted across seized devices and alternatives such as cloud storage.
Why These Changes Are Important
The proposals discussed at the Parliamentary event represent a crucial step towards increasing protection and support for victims of non-consensual intimate image abuse. With over 330,000 images already removed by the Revenge Porn Helpline, the event demonstrated the ongoing need for stronger legal measures and cross-jurisdictional collaboration to address the remaining 10% of NCII effectively.
If you have been affected by intimate image abuse and are an adult over the age of 18 living in the UK, you can contact the Revenge Porn Helpline on 0345 6000 459 or email help@revengepornhelpline.org.uk
