"No Offence, But...": How to have difficult conversations for meaningful change

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You see, what I need in a society where the threat of danger is ongoing is not the same as the society I want. I can’t opt out of this reality, but I can see where we could be and I want to be part of helping us get there. I don’t want more prisons and punishment. I want more prevention. A small number of men convicted of upskirting have been sentenced to prison under my law (and a significant number of them were also convicted of other sexual offences; one was found to have 250,000 indecent images of children). While I am thankful that children will be safer because of his conviction, my work now also asks, “How do we prevent this before we need to criminalise it?” It creates 2 new offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The changes will cover England and Wales; ‘upskirting’ is already a specific offence in Scotland. Notes to editors A summary conviction would carry a sentence of up to one year in prison and/or a fine. And a more serious offence, tried in the Crown Court, would carry a sentence of up to two years in prison. We started a good conversation through the campaign,” Martin said. “Now when I go on Google, I point out upskirting; it’s all about what is upskirting? Why is it happening? It’s all about misogyny and sexism. No longer is it about porn, which I’m proud of.”

The Voyeurism Bill outlaws ‘upskirting’ where the purpose is to obtain sexual gratification, or to cause humiliation, distress or alarm. This includes instances where culprits say images were just taken ‘for a laugh’ or when paparazzi are caught taking intrusive images.The new law captures instances where the purpose is to obtain sexual gratification or cause humiliation, distress or alarm. Today, the Voyeurism Act comes into effect and I’m so happy. Finally we have a fit-for-purpose law that protects against every instance of upskirting - as we should have always had. I’ve known about them since 2017. I’ve followed their work because the way that they do the work is the way we solve the problem or start to solve it. They engage men and boys on gender, equality and feminism,” she said. We have always been clear – there are no excuses for this behaviour and offenders should feel the full force of the law. From today, they will.

Currently the behaviour is successfully prosecuted under the offence of Outraging Public Decency. However, following concerns raised by victims that not all instances of ‘upskirting’ were covered by current law, the government acted to create a new, specific offence. However, following concerns raised by victims that not all instances of ‘upskirting’ were covered by current law, the government acted to create a new, specific offence.

It would capture instances where the purpose is to obtain sexual gratification or cause humiliation, distress or alarm. The latest statistics from ONS have shown 177 women were murdered in England and Wales between April 2020 to March 2021.