Following atrocious cases of women “virtually raped” and harassed by
explicit photographs of themselves with their ex-lovers, the Criminal Justice
and Courts Bill will receive Royal Assent and become law. Offenders will face
up to two years in jail.
Images and videos sent through social networks including Facebook
and Twitter, and even those sent through MMS or SMS are also considered.
Scotland and Northern Ireland are considering to implement similar
laws. The Scottish Government also announced its plans to consult on making
revenge porn a offense with a category of its own.
In the UK alone, there are 30 revenge porn websites publishing
thousands of individuals’ explicit photographs without their consent.
Meanwhile, successfully removing one’s media from one revenge porn website isn’t
enough as the media makes its way to other websites.
According to England and Wales Police Forces, 149 allegations of
revenge porn had been made from January 2012 to July 2014. Six of these cases
were met with police action.
According to Former Culture Secretary Maria Miller:
"By putting this in place the government has given
young women the opportunity to protect themselves from their lives being
blighted.
"When you speak to the victims of these crimes, many
say that it feels as if you've been virtually raped.
"You
can't underestimate the impact of having an image distributed to many people
around the world."
