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13 January 2023 / Emily McFadden
Issue: 8008 / Categories: Features , Criminal , Media , Technology
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Revenge porn: time for action

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Emily McFadden examines the growing impact of image-based sexual abuse & the importance of securing anonymity for its victims
  • The law has been slow to recognise the scale of the problem of revenge porn and put in place proper legislation to deal with it. However, positive steps have been taken recently with the Online Safety Bill and an announcement that victims will have anonymity in revenge porn cases.

Revenge porn is rarely out of the headlines—in December last year, reality TV contestant Stephen Bear was found guilty of voyeurism and two counts of disclosing private, sexual photographs and films. In June 2022, Rob Kardashian and Blac Chyna reached a settlement in their revenge porn case as the trial began.

However, revenge porn isn’t something that just affects the famous. According to Refuge’s ‘The Naked Threat’ report in July 2020, one in 14 adults in England and Wales have been threatened with sharing an intimate image. This increases to one in seven young women aged between 18

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NEWS
The Law Society RFC Festival of Sport returns next month, bringing together legal and financial services professionals for one of the sector’s largest annual sporting events
Legal aid deserts leave almost one in four without adequate access to justice
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has warned solicitors and law firms that using artificial intelligence does not alter their professional obligations, amid concerns over inaccurate legal material and client confidentiality
From forgotten interest claims to case-management appeals, a string of procedural developments offers useful—and occasionally cautionary—lessons for practitioners

Jonathan Fisher KC highlights that it now accounts for around 40% of criminal offences, with roughly 70% involving technology, and argues that the UK cannot simply prosecute its way out of the problem. Detection, investigation and prosecution all require improvement, while different fraud types demand tailored responses.

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