Should men who send pics of their bodies face action?
CALL IS MADE FOR A NEW LAW AGAINST PRACTICE
CAMPAIGNERS are demanding a new law to end the “epidemic” of men sending them pictures of their genitals.
They say they are “sick to death” of being “bombarded” with socalled ‘d*** pics,’ often from strangers.
Victims and academics want a law which could leave the sender at risk of becoming a sex offender.
Newcastle-born model Rebecca Sayers says she’s been sent obscene pictures in the past, adding: “It leaves me disgusted.
“If they did this in a public place, it would be a sex offence and they would be arrested. “The law has to change.” Rebecca, 29, is one of several women demanding a standalone law, similar to ‘revenge porn’ legislation, amid fears current laws aren’t a strong enough deterrent.
Currently, sending a snap of your genitals to a stranger is not in itself illegal, although culprits can be prosecuted for offences such as harassment.
The House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee has launched an inquiry into sexual harassment of women and girls in public places.
Giving evidence this week, Clare McGlynn, a professor of Law at Durham University, says current laws and policies “are only catching up with these behaviours”.
And for the women we spoke with, a change can’t come quick enough.
“I don’t know a woman my age who hasn’t been subjected to this,” said one Newcastle 24-year-old, who asked not to be named.
She said it was so common, it had become the “norm” for a woman to expect to receive them.
“We are all subjected to it yet we suffer in silence,” she added. “Women shouldn’t just be laughing it off, though. It is basically cyber-flashing and in my opinion it is criminal and a sex offence.”
All but one of the women we spoke to declined to be named due to the nature of the subject.
But many had similar experiences, claiming men verbally abused them if they were asked to stop.
Others claimed they were pestered by men who had set up fake accounts after being blocked.
And some said the X-rated snaps had almost become the standard chat-up line for some men.
“Men sending girls pictures of their bits is the new ‘hi,’” added one North East 20-year-old.
“Apparently they think we actually like seeing pictures of it. Personally it makes me sick.
“It’s so common now and it’s become such a normality for girls to get them, girls won’t report every single one they get.”
All the women interviewed said they receive the pictures via Snapchat.
The app allows people to send snaps which disappear after a few seconds.
A spokesperson for the app declined to comment, but every woman interviewed – including Rebecca – felt the firm could do more.
“If you report it time and time again, they finally seem to step in, but I don’t think they do enough,” said Rebecca. “And all the blokes do then is create a new account and start again.”
Another woman added: “I’ve blocked someone but they just create new accounts and fake Snapchat names and adding me, before sending more pictures and harassing me. “It is despicable.” The US-firm insists users can only send snaps to those who have accepted friend requests. It also has a reporting function.
One woman admitted deleting “randoms” she’d added as friends who then sent her rude snaps.
But she added: “Accepting a friend request doesn’t give men the right to do what they want.”
In the Commons, Prof McGlynn highlighted YouGov research which found that 46% of women aged 18 to 36 said they have been sent an unsolicited photo of a penis.
And Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah is calling for tech firms to do more.
She said: “We need to look at whether this already constitutes an offence under existing legislation and I will be putting down Parliamentary Questions on that. “In addition, companies such as Snapchat and Facebook need to take more responsibility for content shared on their platforms. If Facebook can identify and take down images of women breastfeeding, they should be able to address the harm done by pictures of this sort.”
The MPs will publish their conclusions later this year.
‘Law is failing’: Page 22