Secretly videoing or taking photographs of people under their clothes or sharing “deepfake” pornography without consent could lead to prison sentences of up to three years, under recommendations by the Law Commission of England and Wales.
The reforms broaden the scope of criminal law to protect victims from having intimate images taken or shared without their consent, practices known as downblousing and upskirting, or having their faces superimposed on pornographic images and circulated without their agreement.
But campaigners say the reforms do not go far enough and the government is making a “grave mistake” in not taking a tougher stance.
“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,” said Prof Penney Lewis, the law commissioner for criminal law.
Lewis said these offenses were currently dealt with under a “patchwork” of criminal offenses that