Labour’s Victims Minister has voiced her anger that sick online predators are going unpunished for sharing “abhorrent” images of women without consent.
Alex Davies-Jones told The Mirror that women are being failed every day because laws to tackle deepfake and sexual images are not strong enough. She described the harrowing impact it has on those targeted, saying: “This happens to everybody.
“It’s not just Taylor Swift or politicians, this happens to women every single day and it is currently going unchecked. No one is being brought to justice for this, no one is.”
Today the Government unveils plans to make creating explicit ‘deepfake’ images a criminal offence. It follows harrowing cases where innocuous pictures have been turned into fake sexual images and shared online without victims’ knowledge.
The new legislation will ensure those who make and share intimate images without consent will face up to two years in jail. People who install equipment to take these images could also be imprisoned for up to two years.
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Ms Davies-Jones said she had spoken to hundreds of victims about the impact the sickening behaviour has on them.
She said: “These crimes are abhorrent. It’s the impact it has on you personally, how vulnerable you feel, how exposed, how violated – it’s incredibly degrading. And then having to go about your everyday life, whether you’re in a workplace setting or in the street not knowing who has seen that image of you, what impression they may have of you.
“And also knowing that it’s still out there somewhere, it’s having to live with that nightmare every single day.”
Last month Safeguarding Minister Jess Phillips told The Mirror that the Government would be putting forward tough new laws to deal with deepfakes. It came after Tory peer Baroness Owen said millions of explicit doctored images are being shared on vile message boards every day.
Ms Davies-Jones said: “We can’t wait any longer. I don’t want victims to have to wait for justice. I don’t want perpetrators to be getting away with these heinous crimes any longer.”
Campaigner and presenter Jess Davies, who has previously spoken about having intimate images shared without her consent, welcomed the plans. She said: “Intimate-image abuse is a national emergency that is causing significant, long-lasting harm to women and girls who face a total loss of control over their digital footprint, at the hands of online misogyny.
“Women should not have to accept sexual harassment and abuse as a normal part of their online lives, we need urgent action and legislation to better protect women and girls from the mammoth scale of misogyny they are experiencing online.”
In September the Government made sharing intimate images a priority offence under the Online Safety Act. This forces platforms to root out and remove this content or face heavy fines from Ofcom. Ms Davies-Jones said ministers want to see the Act implemented in full as quickly as possible.
The Government has pledged to halve violence against women and girls within a decade. The Victims’ Minister said the change in culture was desperately needed.
She said: “Previously you had a government who talked a lot but failed to back it up with action, and actually when they talked as well, you know, you had a previous Home Secretary (James Cleverly) who joked about spiking his own wife.
“This banter that is seeping into everyday life does have an impact. And that is why I think political direction and leadership really matters in changing and driving that culture change.”