Sending unwanted explicit photographs could lead to two years in prison under new laws

Sending unwanted explicit photographs could lead to two years in prison under new laws set to be introduced by the government but a loophole means many men will still get away with it.

The Online Safety Bill will include a new cyberflashing offence to cover offenders sending unsolicited sexual images to people via mediums such as social media, dating apps, Bluetooth and Airdrop. According to research carried out by popular dating app Bumble, 48pc of women aged between 18 and 24-years-old have received an unwanted sexual photo in the past year.

However the Bill only covers offences where it can be proved that the person sent the image for sexual gratification or to cause distress, HullLive reports. This means that a number of cases could fall through the net if the men claimed that they sent the images for a joke or any other reason that is not sexually-motivated, and it could not be proved otherwise.

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Professor Clare McGlynn QC of Durham University, an expert in Cyberflashing, said: “The proposed new law is a welcome first start recognising the serious harms of Cyberflashing. But the Government must go further if the reality is to live up to the rhetoric.

"The current proposal will only cover Cyberflashing where you can prove that the person send the penis images for a laugh, a joke among their friends, to gain kudos. It will also make prosecutions very difficult.

“What we need is a comprehensive, straightforward law based on non-consent. Cyberflashing is alarmingly common. Many studies show that around half of young women are being sent sexually explicit images without their consent and the figures are even higher