‘Revenge Porn’ In The UK Is Going To Be A Criminal Offense With A Two-Year Sentence

Most people have heard about “revenge porn,” which is the act of sharing a former partner’s sexually explicit photos online without their consent to get “revenge” on them.

Chris Grayling, the justice secretary, said, “The legislation is to be introduced into the criminal justice and courts bill that is currently going through parliament.”

Grayling continued to tell The Guardian how revenge porn needed to be outlawed as soon as possible.

“The fact that there are individuals who are cruelly distributing intimate pictures of their former partners without their consent is almost beyond belief. We want those who fall victim to this type of disgusting behavior to know that we are on their side and will do everything we can to bring offenders to justice. That is why we will change the law and make it absolutely clear to those who act in this way that they could face prison.”

There has been a cumulative pressure by constituents to outlaw revenge porn. This was also recently fueled by statistics showing that children have also been a target of this terrible practice.

According to a report by Inquisitr, revenge porn was made illegal in Germany several months ago. This is due to the fact that the courts ruled that the personal rights of the victim outweighed the ownership rights of whoever owns the photos.

Those who are convicted of uploading a former partner’s private sexual images without their consent will receive up to a two-year jail sentence.

The minister for women and equality, Nick Morgan, added, “Circulating intimate photos of an individual without their consent is never acceptable. People are entitled to expect a reasonable level of respect and privacy. It is right that those who do circulate these images are held to account, and that we educate young people to the hurt that can be caused by breaking this trust.”

Unfortunately, the United States does not have a nationwide legislation that makes revenge porn a criminal offense. Right now, only 28 states have bills that ban sexually explicit photos without consent. States/territories that already have legislation implemented include the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Utah, Virginia, and Wisconsin. Unfortunately, as of this moment, there are no bills that prevent anyone in the rest of the country from posting non-consensual explicit photos online.

[Image via Alamy]