AREarlier this year saw the oral evidence session with the Women’s and Equalities Committee take place in the UK Parliament to discuss the ongoing issue of non-consensual intimate image abuse. Georgia Harrison (reality TV star) who has campaigned tirelessly for stronger protections for victims, gave powerful evidence to the Committee alongside discussing her own story of being affected by intimate image abuse.
At the time, MPs heard more about the current gaps within the legal system that currently permit non-consensually shared intimate images to be viewed online. At the Revenge Porn Helpline, we have an ongoing problem that we are unable to resolve - 10% of reported content by the helpline remains online and is legally allowed to be viewed even if a perpetrator has been convicted.
We have highlighted that we currently have 30,000 URLs containing non-consensually shared content that we are unable to remove due to the current legal framework that allows NCII content to remain online due to websites being non-compliant with taking it down. This issue would ultimately be resolved if Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were able to block the content that we can’t remove.
With Georgia’s support, we campaigned tirelessly to encourage support from MPs, NGOs and organisations to ensure this legal loophole was closed to reinforce tougher protections in protecting any individual affected by intimate image abuse. At the evidence hearing, Rt Hon Caroline Nokes MP powerfully addressed Parliament on an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill that would bring this crucial protection into force.
The amendment aimed to rectify disparities by elevating non-consensual intimate imagery to be deemed illegal content in the same way as child sexual abuse material. By imposing obligations on platforms to remove such content and requiring Internet Service Providers to block access, the amendment would provide more comprehensive protection for individuals affected by this harm.
A New Government – A Pause on Change
Now, despite a new Government in place, all efforts to continue the positive discussions and movement to bring this change into force have stalled during this period of transition. Needless to say, putting a pause on effective change is not stopping the fact that more and more individuals are still being affected by intimate image abuse every single day.
A new Government will no doubt inspire change, but the data does not lie. In 2023, the Revenge Porn Helpline received almost 19,000 reports, a 106% increase from the previous year. Kaspersky’s latest research indicates that 46% of respondents globally have either experienced intimate image abuse or know someone who has. The NPCC only this month reported on the ‘epidemic’ of violence against women and girls with 3,000 offences recorded every day. This issue is not going away any time soon and with technology evolving at such a rapid rate, we can only expect more harmful opportunities to arise for perpetrators to exploit individuals.
The need for this legislative change is more important than ever. There is no justification in allowing this behaviour to continue for any longer - non-consensually shared intimate imagery should be made illegal and we urge the new Government to rectify this problem now.
Sophie Mortimer (Revenge Porn Helpline Manager) said: ‘'It seems completely unjustifiable to convict a perpetrator of intimate image abuse but allow the viewing of someone’s non-consensually shared intimate content to continue. The positivity and drive to ensure appropriate protections are in place should not be halted, this is a simple fix that will have lasting impact and will move us even closer to eradicating this unacceptable behaviour for good. We sincerely hope the new Government implements this essential change.’'
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
