The Government has today [Friday 25 November] announced that it
intends to implement Law Commission recommendations to strengthen
the law to protect victims of intimate image abuse.
The Government asked the Law Commission to undertake a review of
the laws around intimate image abuse in 2019, following calls
to make it easier to prosecute those who take or share
sexual, nude or other intimate images of people without their
consent.
In July 2022, the Commission published its final
recommendations for reforming the law. This included a
new framework of offences designed to address all forms of
intimate image abuse, including criminalising “downblousing” and
sharing pornographic "deepfakes" and “nudified”
images without consent.
The Government has today confirmed its intention to implement the
Law Commission's recommendations. In the immediate term, it
will put forward an amendment to the Online Safety Bill, which
would criminalise the sharing of a person's intimate images
without their consent.
This is designed to combat the proliferation of deepfakes, and to
widen the law to include those who share intimate images without
consent for sexual gratification, or “for a laugh”, causing
significant harm to victims.
The Government has announced that it then intends to implement a
comprehensive package of measures covering additional Law
Commission recommendations (see below). This includes offences
relating to the taking of intimate images without consent,
including the abusive act of downblousing, and protective
measures for victims, including automatic anonymity.
Commenting on the intimate image abuse reforms, Professor Penney
Lewis, Commissioner for Criminal Law at the Law Commission,
said:
"Taking or sharing intimate images of a person without
their consent can inflict lasting damage.
"We are pleased that the Government will take forward
our recommendations to strengthen the law. A
new set of offences will capture a wider range of abusive
behaviours, ensuring that more perpetrators of these deeply
harmful acts face prosecution.”
The Law Commission’s recommended legal framework
governing intimate image abuse, set out in July 2022
The Commission's
recommended reforms would bring in a “base” offence for
intimate image abuse, supplemented by three additional offences
for more serious conduct and a further offence for installing
equipment:
-
A new base offence: it would be an offence for
someone to intentionally take or share an intimate image of a
person if they do not consent and the perpetrator does not
reasonably believe that they consent.
- This base offence would apply
regardless of the perpetrator’s motivation. Current intimate
image offences are restricted to one or two narrow motivations:
to cause humiliation, alarm or distress to the victim or to
obtain sexual gratification. This would be widened to include all
motivations, such as sharing intimate images for financial gain,
social status or as a joke, or where there is no motivation at
all. This offence could lead to a maximum sentence of six months’
imprisonment.
-
Three additional offences for more serious
conduct: where the perpetrator has taken or shared an
intimate image without consent with the motivation either to
obtain sexual gratification, or to cause humiliation, alarm or
distress, or where the perpetrator has threatened to share an
intimate image. These offences could lead to a sentence of two
to three years’ imprisonment.
-
An offence for installing equipment: it would
be an offence to install equipment such as a hidden camera, in
order to take an intimate image of a person without their
consent.
Under the Commission’s recommendations, all victims of the new
offences would be automatically eligible for lifetime anonymity.
Currently, only victims of voyeurism and upskirting are
automatically eligible for anonymity. All victims would also be
eligible for special measures to support them giving evidence in
a trial – for example, by giving evidence behind a screen, by
video link or through pre-recorded evidence.
