Cyberflashing to become illegal in England and Wales

Cyberflashing will become a criminal offence in England and Wales. Under new laws set to be introduced, perpetrators will face up to two years in prison.

Cyberflashing is a term that describes the violating act of sending non-consensual explicit photos via AirDrop or messaging app.

Recent research by Professor Jessica Ringrose, head of sociology at UCL's Institute of Education, found that 76 percent of girls aged between 12 and 18 had been sent unsolicited nude images of boys or men. Per YouGov data, 41 percent of women aged between 18 and 36 "have been sent an unsolicited photo of a man's private parts." Researchers have found that women are often overwhelmingly the target of this violation.

Cyberflashing will be banned in the government's Online Safety Bill along with other reforms.

Journalist and author Sophie Gallagher has interviewed nearly 100 women on the record about their experiences of cyberflashing, most recently reporting on how lockdown hasn't stopped it.

"After years of being told cyberflashing was either not happening or not that serious, it is great to see it finally recognised as criminal behaviour," Gallagher told Mashable.

"It is one of many forms of gendered violence that harms women and allows men to exert power and entitlement, and is not any less serious because it happens online rather than in person."

Gallagher pointed out that the legislation being proposed does have a possible loophole "of only prosecuting based on perpetrator motivation, rather than lack of victim consent."

"This might sound like a small detail but we've seen in other laws, like image-based abuse [revenge porn], this means women sometimes do not get the justice they deserve," she said.

In Nov. 2021, dating app Bumble announced its #DigitalFlashingIsFlashing campaign to call on lawmakers to make cyberflashing illegal in England and Wales. Cyberflashing has been criminalised in Scotland for more than a decade.

Professor Penney Lewis, criminal law commissioner at the Law Commission said in a statement that "reports of cyberflashing are rising worryingly."

"This offence will close loopholes in the existing law and ensure that cyberflashing is treated as seriously as in-person flashing," Lewis added.