Freelance writer living in London, Gina Martin, 26, has started the petition Email your MP: Make upskirt photos a specific sexual offence! in 2017.
"This all started when two men took photos up my skirt (and sent them to people around me to humiliate me) at a festival last summer. After handing the phone, photo and one of the perpetrators over to the police, I was told that there was nothing that could be done," Ms. Martin explained.
What is colloquially known as 'upskirting' typically involves "offenders taking a picture under a person's clothing without them knowing, with the intention of viewing their genitals or buttocks."
Currently only in Scotland 'upskirting' is already a specific offence. In England and Wales existing criminal law does not necessarily cover every instance of 'upskirting.' The intrusive practice does not go unpunished in England and Wales, according to the Ministry of Justice, as there have been successful prosecutions under the Outraging Public Decency (OPD) offence.
Change Has to Be Comprehensive
Professor of Law at Durham University and expert on sexual violence, Dr. Clare McGlynn, has welcomed the steps taken by the government but suggested that comprehensive change is needed.
The Ministry of Justice "needs to do more to modernize, strengthen and make law consistent for all victims of image-based sexual abuse."
READ MORE: UK Campaign Seeking to Make 'Upskirting' Criminal Offense Gains Momentum
The bill, tabled by Bath Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse, returns to Parliament for its 2nd reading on 15 June where the lawmakers will formally give their support.
UK Justice Minister Lucy Frazer said, "making 'upskirting' a specific offence, we are sending a clear message that this behavior will not be tolerated, and that perpetrators will be properly punished."
A summary conviction would carry a sentence of up to one year in prison and/or a fine. And a more serious offence, tried in the Crown Court, would carry a sentence of up to two years in prison.