Wera: "Why Is Upskirting Still Legal?"

26 February 2018

Upskirting is the practice of taking photos of women from below without their knowledge.

Wera, in a debate regarding women's equality, asked Victoria Atkins (Minister for Women):

"Will the Minister consider criminalising upskirting to end this degrading and humiliating practice?"

Her response:

"Upskirting is a modern phenomenon which it's fair to say the law has not quite kept up with modern habits. It is an issue of which I am very aware, not least because my police and crime commissioner campaigns on it very thoroughly, so it's something that I'm considering, and that the government is considering, and perhaps in due course, I could meet with the Honourable Lady to discuss it with her."

Following the debate Wera said:

"I'm glad the Minister acknowledges this as a problem. The law has kept up in Scotland, and we are lagging behind on this awful practice. British law should have no place for perpetrators to hide. I'm going to keep the pressure up on this."

Last year a petition was started by Gina Martin to bring public attention to the practice, after she fell victim to it at a festival over the summer. The petition called for her case to be tackled by the police, and for the "law to specify clearly that this is a sexual offence with a victim, by adding this offence to the Sexual Offences Act 2003." It now has over 80,000 signatures.

An Early Day Motion is currently doing the rounds in Westminster, but only 46 MPs (including Wera) have currently signed it.

Wera finished:

"The law needs changing, and I will fight to do just that. I look forward to taking the Minister up on her offer to talk about solutions to the problem in person."