Threatening to post someone's nudes will soon be punishable to the fullest extent of the law in the very near future. The UK Government will soon be passing a new law that will condemn any threats to post revenge porn in an effort to humiliate or harm somebody. The maximum jail sentence given will be of two years.
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Years of efforts coming to fruition
The new law was put into place after years of tireless work from campaigners amounting to new amendments and alterations to the Domestic Abuse Bill, which will be given Royal Assent in the spring making them legally binding.
In the same vein, non fatal strangulation will also be punishable by incarceration that could go up to five years if found guilty. Although revenge porn has been illegal in the UK since 2015, threats to post compromising pictures as blackmail was never covered by the law.
This type of abuse is as rampant and the consequences can be just as devastating as the literal action of revenge porn. Director of communications of Refuge–a women's charity– Lisa King said:
Up until now, women haven't had a recourse to go to the police to have anything done about [threats to share intimate images] - it's just something perpetrators can get away with. That's really frightening. We're delighted that the Government has listened to a very pressing issue that impacts so many lives
And added:
We're going to need to keep the pressure on so that police are trained as quickly as possible, so they know these new changes are in place and that women have the right to press charges if they are experiencing such threats
Statistics of women blackmailed with revenge porn
Research conducted by Refuge found that one in seven women have been threatened with revenge porn at one point in time in their lives. And what is especially concerning is that young women are likelier to be subjected to this type of psychological abuse.
Since the announcement of the new law, the charity has expressed their gratitude by saying that:
thousands of women will now have the protection they deserve.
