Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has to tackle the unconsented sharing of intimate and sexual images.

There are a range of criminal offences with robust sanctions which can be used to deal with the non-consensual creation and sharing of intimate photography (so called ‘revenge porn’). In 2015 we made it an offence to share private sexual photographs and films without the consent of the individual appearing in the photograph or film and with intent to cause them distress. There have been over 900 convictions for this offence since its commencement in April 2015. And, through our landmark Domestic Abuse Act 2021, we criminalised making threats to share private sexual images with intent to cause distress or anxiety.

In addition, our Online Safety Bill will give companies clear legal responsibilities to understand the risk of harm to users and to put in place systems and processes to improve safety of users. For illegal content like criminal revenge porn, companies will have to take action to prevent its proliferation online.

The Law Commission is considering the existing offences in this are to identify whether there are any gaps in the scope of protection already offered to victims.. We expect the Commission to publish its recommendations this Spring, and the Government will consider these carefully.

We are also committed to ensuring that victims and survivors get the support they deserve. That is why the Home Office provided an initial £120k to the ‘Revenge Porn’ Helpline to support victims of non-consensual intimate image sharing, and, as part of our Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, we have increased funding by a further £40K for the ‘Revenge Porn’ Helpline in recognition of the significant increase in demand to the service. In addition, we are providing nearly £200k to the National Sexual Violence Support Fund to support victims and survivors of rape and sexual violence.