A new law has been passed in the United Kingdom to make Revenge Porn a criminal offence and this is long overdue but we are pleased with the news regardless. If you post nude photos of an ex or current partner for that matter without their consent then you are likely to face jail time.
Since the advancements in technology, WiFi, mobile internet and smartphones with cameras there has been a massive increase in the number of revenge porn complaints to the police and until now there have not been any specific laws surrounding these acts but that has now changed and makes sharing explicit images via text, email, social media or any other messaging apps without full consent an offence.
The clause added to the Criminal Justice and Courts Act states: “It is an offense for a person to disclose a private sexual photograph or film if the disclosure is made (a) without the consent of an individual who appears in the photograph or film, and (b) with the intention of causing that individual distress.”
The first person in the UK that was prosecuted for posting revenge porn happened in November of 2014 when a man shared explicit photos of his ex-girlfriend on the popular WhatsApp smartphone messaging application. He was jailed for 12 weeks.
We hope this new law is a good enough deterant to prevent these cases happening in the future, people do not consider the impact this can have on the lives and families of the people involved or caught up. It can and has led to depression and incidents of suicide already and has been likened to being virtually raped.