Cyberflashing to become illegal in England and Wales

In England and Wales it will be a crime to flash. Up to two years in prison is what perpetrators will face under the new laws.

Cyber flashing is the act of sending explicit photos via AirDrop or a messaging app.

Professor Jessica Ringrose, head of sociology at the Institute of Education, found that 76 percent of girls between the ages of 12 and 18 had been sent nude images. 41 percent of women between the ages of 18 and 36 have been sent a photo of a man's private parts, according to YouGov data.

The Online Safety Bill will include a ban on cyber flash.

Over 100 women have been interviewed on the record about their experiences of cyber flashing, most recently reporting on how lockdown hasn't stopped it.

After years of being told that cyber flashing was not serious, it is great to see that it is.

It is one of many forms of gendered violence that harms women and allows men to exert power and entitlement, and is not any less serious because it happens online rather than in person.

The legislation being proposed may have a loophole that only prosecutes based on motivation, rather than lack of victim consent.

This might sound like a small detail, but we have seen in other laws that women do not get the justice they deserve.

In November of 2021, dating app Bumble launched a campaign to make cyber flashing illegal in England and Wales. Cyber flashing has been a crime in Scotland for more than a decade.

Professor Penney Lewis, criminal law commissioner at the Law Commission said in a statement that reports of cyber flashing are rising worryingly.

This offence will close loopholes in the law and ensure that cyber flashing is treated as serious as in-person flashing.