The Ministry of Justice has warned police to be prepared for a rise in people reporting revenge porn following a change in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill making ‘revenge porn' illegal.
The bill has now received Parliamentary approval and the legislation is set to come into force in the spring. This means that anyone found sharing intimate pictures on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, or on a mobile phone via text message, could be jailed for up to two years in prison.
Revenge Porn Law in Britain
The offence covers naked photographs or films showing people having sex or depicted in a sexual way with everything exposed.
We need @BanRevengePorn because I'm tired of the victims being blamed for the guilty's crime! Threatening & violation is wrong FULL STOP!
— Gemma-Marie Everest (@GMEverest) November 17, 2014
Minister for Women and Equalities Nicky Morgan said: "Circulating intimate photos of an individual without their consent is never acceptable. People are entitled to expect a reasonable level of respect and privacy."
"It is right that those who do circulate these images are held accountable, and that we educate young people to the hurt that can be caused by breaking this trust".
The Ministry of Justice is launching a campaign aimed at raising awareness of the new legislation surrounding revenge porn. Victims will be encouraged to report incidents to the police and officers should be prepared for a possible rise in the number of victims of revenge porn coming forward.
Recently, a 14-year-old boy became the youngest person in Britain to be convicted for ‘revenge porn' after he sold naked pictures of his ex-girlfriend on Facebook for £10 each.
Many victims are too scared to go to the police because they are embarrassed or scared their images may go viral. http://t.co/rDzU5Hj49s
— End Revenge Porn (@EndRevengePorn) January 25, 2015
The youth court in Plymouth heard the victim had sent the teenage defendant photographs of herself during their relationship. But after they broke up, those photographs were sold to another teenager.
The boy who sent the pictures and the boy who received them were both given 12 months referral orders and ordered to pay £100 in costs and a victim surcharge.
The court also ordered that the images be destroyed.
