Upskirting will be made a criminal offence in England and Wales after the bill passed its third reading in the House of Lords.
It follows months of campaigning which saw hundreds of women sharing their experiences of being subject to the invasive act.
Last June, the Ministry of Justice said it would support upskirting becoming a criminal offence which formed part of the Voyeurism (Offences) Bill.
After receiving its third reading on Tuesday, the bill will soon be on the statute book and law.
Here’s what you need to know about upskirting and how the new bill will change the law:
What is upskirting?
Upskirting is the invasive act of taking a photograph underneath a person’s skirt without their permission.
Upskirting is usually performed in a public place, making it hard to identify people taking such images.
As it was not a criminal offence, there are no official statistics on the prevalence of upskirting. However, some research released in February revealed that girls as young as 10 have been victims of upskirting.
Can a perpetrator currently be prosecuted for upskirting?
Upskirting is not currently deemed an offence in England and Wales.
Victims and police are only able to pursue offences of outraging public decency or as a crime of voyeurism. If someone is caught upskirting and authorities are informed, the culprit will be asked to delete the image but further prosecution is not possible.
Also, unlike other sexual offences, victims do not have the automatic right to anonymity.
In Scotland, upskirting has been illegal since 2010 when it was listed under the definition of voyeurism.
Who is Gina Martin?
26-year-old Gina Martin started a campaign pushing for upskirting to be made illegal after she was upskirted at a music festival.
She wrote about her experience in a Facebook post which went viral and led to an online petition calling for upskirting to be made a criminal offence, which received 50,000 signatures.
Explaining why she took action against upskirting, Ms Martin said: “I was tired of ‘ignoring it.’ I felt this was wrong and I was astounded to learn that upskirting wasn’t a sexual offence. I wanted to change this for everyone because the least we deserve is to be able to wear what we want without non-consensual photos being taken of us.”
What will the new upskirting bill mean?
When the bill went through its second reading in June 2018, it was objected by Tory MP Christopher Cope and was sent back for another try on 6 July.
The bill successfully passed its third reading and now just has to go through the formal process of Royal Assent to become law.
The sentencing for the violation will be brought in line with existing voyeurism offences, which carry a punishment of up to two-year imprisonment and could see offenders put on the sex offenders register.
