'Upskirting' law has been drafted, promising criminalisation of a highly intrusive act

Despite controversial blocking from some MPs, the bill to introduce laws against images taken without consent, such as the highly intrusive act of upskirting, has been drafted and submitted to Parliament today.

The government has confirmed it plans to introduce legislation to ban upskirting, the act of taking someone’s picture under a person’s clothing without their permission, after a Conservative backbencher was berated by party colleagues for blocking a bill to make this practice criminal offence.

With this ban coming into action after a positive online campaign from many, including Gina Martin, a victim of upskirting, White Ribbon UK is asking social media companies to take the lead and ban images taken without consent altogether.

Chris Green OBE, Founder and President of White Ribbon UK said, "Large social media organisations such as Twitter have a responsibility to stand with women. White Ribbon UK urges social networking sites to take the lead in respecting women's privacy and acknowledging the importance of consent by blocking unconsented images such as upskirting."