Guidance

Revenge Porn

Revenge Porn: sharing private sexual materials with intent to cause distress

• From: Ministry of Justice
• Published: 3 February 2015

Documents

Revenge Porn: the facts

PDF, 336 KB, 2 pages

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Details

Under new legislation which will cover England & Wales (Criminal Justice and Courts Bill), it will soon be easier to prosecute instances of ‘Revenge Porn’. Those found guilty of it, can be sentenced to up to 2 years in prison and a fine.

What is Revenge Porn?

Revenge Porn is the sharing of private, sexual materials, either photos or videos, of another person, without their consent and with the purpose of causing embarrassment or distress.

The offence applies both online and offline, and to images which are shared electronically or in a more traditional way so it includes the uploading of images on the internet, sharing by text and e-mail, or showing someone a physical or electronic image.

What constitutes private and sexual materials?

Under the new offence, private materials are those showing anything not usually seen in public. Sexual material not only covers images that show the pubic region, but anything that a reasonable person would consider to be sexual so this could be a picture of someone who is engaged in sexual behaviour or posing in a sexually provocative way,

Existing legislation

This is not the first, nor only offence, relating to Revenge Porn. In 2014, the Crown Prosecution Service published new guidelines on existing legislation, to support successful convictions.

A factsheet has been prepared for police officers on the new offence.

Published 3 February 2015