Tougher criminal penalties proposed for ‘downblousing’ and porn deepfakes

The Law Commission of England and Wales said the reforms would make it easier to prosecute those who take or share sexual, nude or other intimate images of people without their consent.

The recommendations would also update the law to cover more modern forms of abuse that are currently not offences, including “downblousing” which is currently not criminalised in the same way as "upskirting".

As well as extending and simplifying the law, under the reforms, all victims of abuse would receive lifetime anonymity in the hope that it will help empower victims to report and support prosecutions.

Commenting on the reforms, professor Penney Lewis, the Law Commissioner for Criminal Law, said: “Sharing intimate images of a person without their consent can be incredibly distressing and harmful for victims, with the experience often scarring them for life.

“Current laws on taking or sharing sexual or nude images of someone without their consent are inconsistent, based on a narrow set of motivations, and do not go far enough to cover disturbing and abusive new behaviours born in the smartphone era.

“Our new reforms for government will broaden the scope of the criminal law to ensure that no perpetrators of these deeply damaging acts can evade prosecution and that victims are given effective protection.”

The 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.

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 obvious motivation at all. This offence could lead to a maximum sentence of six months’ imprisonment.

The three additional offences concern 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.

A further offence for installing equipment such as a hidden cameras would also be introduced.

Emily Hunt, campaigner, advocate for victims of sexual offences and independent adviser to the Ministry of Justice, said: “The Law Commission’s reforms on anonymity are a vital step for securing greater protection for victims of intimate image abuse and would encourage more people to come forward to report offences.

“Taking or sharing sexual or nude images of someone without their consent can disrupt lives and inflict lasting damage. A change in the law is long overdue and it’s right that under these proposals all perpetrators of these acts would face prosecution.”