New campaign: survivors demand law to stop image-based abuse

The End Violence Against Women Coalition, survivor campaign group #NotYourPorn, GLAMOUR UK and Clare McGlynn, Professor of Law at Durham University have today launched a campaign to protect women online, led by Jodie* a survivor of deepfake sexual abuse.

After planned new laws to address deepfake sexual abuse fell through when the general election was called, the creation of this imagery remains legal, leaving women and girls at risk of being targeted and survivors without a route to justice.

When Jodie was targeted in 2021, her life turned upside down. Sent an anonymous tip by email, she discovered sexually explicit deepfake imagery of her had been created and published on an online forum. 

She eventually discovered the perpetrator was her best friend. But when she reported this to the police, she was told there was nothing they could do. The only charges they could bring against him were for the foul language being used online, because no other laws had been broken.

Jodie says “I felt alone. The emotional toll was enormous. There were points I was crying so much I burst the blood vessels in my eyes. I couldn’t sleep and when I did, I had nightmares. It felt impossible not to fall into a dark and hopeless place, knowing that someone so close to me could do this and face no consequences.”

With Jodie, we are calling for a dedicated Image-Based Abuse law to protect women’s rights online and offline. This includes measures to:

• Strengthen criminal laws about creating, taking and sharing intimate images without consent (including sexually explicit deepfakes)
• Improve civil laws for survivors to take action against perpetrators and tech companies (including taking down abusive content)
• Prevent image-based abuse through comprehensive relationships, sex and health education
• Fund specialist services that provide support to victims and survivors of image-based abuse
• Create an online abuse commission to hold tech companies accountable for image-based abuse

The recent government announcement of a “crackdown on intimate image abuse” referred to legal changes which were administrative in nature, given image-based abuse was already a priority offence under the Online Safety Act. This alone will not go far enough to improve survivors’ access to justice and support or prevent others from becoming victims.

There are concerning loopholes in the current law, and piecemeal changes to existing legislation will not plug all the gaps and stop this abuse.

That’s why with the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), GLAMOUR UK, #NotYourPorn, and Professor Clare McGlynn, survivors like Jodie are calling for a comprehensive law that tackles image-based abuse. 

Rebecca Hitchen, Head of Policy & Campaigns at the End Violence Against Women Coalition (EVAW), said: “The technology that is enabling perpetrators to create, share and widely disseminate abusive images is constantly evolving at a rapid pace. Tackling the issue needs to be underpinned by a comprehensive law that holds both perpetrators and tech platforms accountable and provides specialist support and individual redress for survivors, alongside working towards a better future through prevention. By signing this petition you are telling the government to take urgent action to protect survivors and prevent other women and girls from being targeted.”

Elena Michael, Director of #NotYourPorn, said: “The five “asks” in this campaign are shaped from the needs and experiences of survivors – this is what they need as an absolute minimum and we will keep calling for it until the Government listens. The Online Safety Act doesn’t go far enough although a starting piece in the jigsaw puzzle. Survivors can’t be expected to do all the work to protect themselves even though this is essentially what they are having to do because of the gaps in the law.”

Professor Clare McGlynn, world-leading expert on image-based abuse, said: “Current laws on image-based abuse are complicated and confusing, with huge gaps, leaving survivors with few options to take back control of their lives and secure some sense of justice. We need a comprehensive image-based abuse law that recognises the nature and extent of this abuse and sets out an ambition to eradicate it.” 

Deborah Joseph, GLAMOUR’s European Editorial Director, said: “At a parliamentary roundtable GLAMOUR held earlier this year at the start of our consent campaign, we heard first-hand the devastating impact statements of survivors of revenge porn. Their brave words hit home the stark need to make meaningful change that actively protects against this type of horrific abuse. We need a complete overhaul of the existing system with a dedicated, comprehensive Image-Based Abuse law. The daily headlines detailing senseless acts of violence against women and girls is evidence of a national crisis. We need our government to take this new form of online abuse seriously and we need them to act now.” 

Read more and sign the petition here.

*name changed to protect the survivor’s identity

ENDS

Media contact

Sinead Geoghegan, Head of Communications, EVAW: media@evaw.org.uk 07903 265 643