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Revenge porn laws may be changed, hints justice secretary Revenge porn laws: Ministers urged to 'go further'
(about 1 hour later)
The government is "very open" to the idea of changing the law to tackle the spread of revenge pornography, the justice secretary has said. Ministers must outlaw all forms of psychological abuse if attempts to tackle revenge porn are to be meaningful, campaigners say.
Chris Grayling told MPs uploading sexually explicit material to the internet without the subject's consent is becoming a bigger issue in the UK. Justice Secretary Chris Grayling has said the government is "very open" to the idea of changing the law to tackle what he said was a "growing problem".
Ministers may take "appropriate action" when Parliament returns from its summer recess, he added. But charity Women's Aid urged the government to go further and support victims through the justice system.
He was responding to a question from former Culture Secretary Maria Miller. Ministers say they may take "appropriate action" in the autumn.
Speaking in the House of Commons during justice questions, she called for a change in the law to tackle the "appalling" practice, saying the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill could be used to toughen up the necessary legislation. 'Serious discussion'
Responding, Mr Grayling said Mrs Miller had "done a very important job in raising this issue". The term revenge porn is used to describe the phenomenon of people posting explicit images of former partners online - either obtained consensually or stolen - to humiliate them following a break up.
Mr Grayling told MPs the practice was becoming a more significant problem in the UK.
He was responding to a question from fellow Conservative Maria Miller.
The former culture secretary has called for a change in the law to tackle the "appalling" practice, saying the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill could be used to toughen up the necessary legislation.
Mr Grayling said Mrs Miller had "done a very important job in raising this issue".
"It's clearly becoming a bigger problem in our society," he told her."It's clearly becoming a bigger problem in our society," he told her.
"What I'd say to you today is the government is very open to having a serious discussion about this with a view to taking appropriate action in the autumn if we can identify the best way of doing so.""What I'd say to you today is the government is very open to having a serious discussion about this with a view to taking appropriate action in the autumn if we can identify the best way of doing so."
'Criminalise abuse'
But Polly Neate, chief executive of the Women's Aid charity said: "To be meaningful, any attempt to tackle revenge porn must also take account of all other kinds of psychological abuse and controlling behaviour, and revenge porn is just another form of coercive control.
"That control is central to domestic violence, which is why we're campaigning for all psychological abuse and coercive control to be criminalised. We urge Mr Grayling and the Home Office to go further, and ensure victims can get the support of the criminal justice system for all the abuse they experience."
She said it was "hard to know how many people are affected" but that anecdotally it was thought those "experiencing domestic violence will face the threat or reality of revenge porn".
Legislation criminalising revenge porn has been introduced in the US states of Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, New York, Maryland, California and New Jersey.
However, the laws in California do not cover self-taken shots, which some campaigners claim may represent up to 80% of all revenge porn.
Have you been a victim of revenge porn? Should the law be changed to tackle the problem? If you are happy to speak to a BBC journalist about these issues please email us at haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk with the words 'Revenge porn' in the subject heading.