Change is possible! largest most notorious deepfake sexual abuse website has blocked access to UK users. This follows announcement this week to criminalise creation as well as sharing. This has always been my main justification for using the criminal law
I'm a bit floored by my work on father-daughter incest. Really didn't expect to find so many people, going to so much effort, to absolve fathers of responsibility, and to blame mothers & girls.
Apologies to you feminist stalwarts who've been shouting this but I've not heard you
Two thirds of women in prison have experienced domestic abuse. Three-quarters in for non-violent crimes. Significant suicide rates. Review after review after review suggests change. Why are we still doing this?
This is the reality of epidemic levels of voyeurism targeting women and girls - Korea employing women to check toilets for hidden cameras.
The abuse is pervasive, unrelenting and costly for women and girls, and all of society.
I have a google alert for 'indecent exposure' and every week there are many many many reports and calls for info.
It's not rare. It is deeply harmful. It must be taken more seriously.
Sarah Everard killer was accused of indecent exposure in 2015
My particular focus is on incest porn, the largest category of sexually violent porn found online in my study with
@VeraGrayF
It's freely and easily accessible online. Legitimising and normalising abusive sexual activity within families.
Huge congratulations to
@McGlynnClare
@DurhamLawSchool
who’s been made an honorary Queen’s Counsel. The award recognises Clare’s work in championing women in the legal profession and shaping new laws criminalising image-based sexual abuse. Find out more 👉
Profoundly disturbing report.
Amongst other things, it found porn use as a key risk factor.
Men who had sexual feelings and offending against children were:
11 times more likely to watch violent pornography
26 times more likely to watch bestiality porn.
Today we are launching the largest, nationally representative child sexual abuse perpetration survey ever undertaken. We asked 1,945 Australian men about their sexual feelings and behaviour towards childen.
Just found a Pornhub video titled '4 foot 6'.
I had to look it up: it's the height of an average 10 year old girl.
In plain sight, Pornhub is sexualising very young girls and profiting from it.
Why do we allow this? When will regulation of porn sites have any meaning?
Why are we not taking exposure and voyeurism seriously?
I'm preparing to give evidence tomorrow to
@CommonsHomeAffs
on non-contact sexual offences and links to other patterns of offending together with
@KatrinHohl
@ProfSexualities
and Lisa Squires
Thank you Judith Herman and Lisa Hirschman making things clear from 1977 locating the 'incest taboo and its violations within the structure of patriarchy'.
Huge congratulations to
@McGlynnClare
@DurhamLawSchool
who’s been made an honorary Queen’s Counsel. The award recognises Clare’s work in championing women in the legal profession and shaping new laws criminalising image-based sexual abuse. Find out more 👉
Another form of
#IntimateImageAbuse
yet to be criminalised - groups of men sharing intimate photos to boost their status & bond with other men:
‘I have moments of shame I can’t control’: the lives ruined by explicit ‘collector culture’
Jaw-dropping. This 2017 article on father-daughter incest talks of:
-'affection-based incest'
-girls 'voluntarily' having sex with their fathers
-'parental fighting' being the key incest predictor
-separation of father from daughter not being necessary
Thank you
@ProfLizKelly
@CWASULonMet
for your ground breaking work highlighting the extensive variety of experiences of incest including those not meeting any criminal threshold but being similarly profoundly harmful
#ContinuumSexualViolence
Thoughtful analysis here of problems with Grace Millane case reporting - so deeply concerning. Little seems to change despite years of raising awareness: She was fatally strangled. The media is making it about her sex life. via
@voxdotcom
From 2nd wave feminism, to modern day, thank you
@igrantubc
and Janine Benedet of
@AllardLaw
for shining a light on sexual abuse by fathers, a subject matter few want to discuss: Breaking the Silence on Father-Daughter Sexual Abuse
Cautionary tale re how impactful research requires universities to invest significant resources in people, their potential, in challenging ideas & then give us space. Not
#overnight
or
#guaranteed
For
@VeraGrayF
and me
@durham_uni
it came together, but it took all this
#thread
Seriously angry. My morning run ruined by a man coming out of bushes ahead of me who looked like he was doing up his zip. I'd clocked him from afar and was on alert; so wasn't shocked. But pissed off in the extreme.
Yes, of course it's a thread..
It’s live!
Very excited to share my new website. Lots of info on my work: cyberflashing, intimate image abuse, online abuse, pornography, sexual violence and more.
Designed by the superb Sara Watkins from
@hopscotchdes
Any feedback very welcome 😀
No surprise: new tech, new ways to abuse women.
Any chance we could implement
#SafetyByDesign
right now and tackle this issue as tech develops?
The metaverse has a groping problem already
New: My comment welcoming the plans to criminalise creating deepfakes, but setting out essential next steps. We need a straightforward, comprehensive criminal law that enables us demand more from internet platforms. Thanks
@GlamourMagUK
NEW: study reveals 1 in 8 video titles on the home pages of the most popular mainstream porn sites describe acts of sexual violence.
Raises serious questions about regulation of
#OnlineHarms
#CulturalHarm
Great to work w
@VeraGrayF
on
#landmark
research
Oh dear. This is such an important survey. But this headline is so terrible. They're not 'rape-like' assaults; they are rape.
One in three female students subjected to 'rape-like' assaults
Wise words from
@georgiaharisonx
on why
#OnlineSafetyBill
must go further to ensure platforms take online violence and abuse seriously.
Must stop abuse at source
In Scottish case against 'pick-up artist' this July, judges rejected claim that being 'chatting up' on street by stranger can be threatening. Reminder here why they got this so wrong:
Woman stabbed at bus stop 'after refusing man's sexual advances
#thread
My new research with
@Hannah_Bows
showing vast majority - 85% - of extreme porn prosecutions are for bestiality not rape porn. We're calling for wholesale review of the law
#RethinkReform
#HarmNotObscenity
A truly seismic moment in the fight against deepfake sexual abuse. Change is possible.
The most notorious
#deepfake
sexual abuse site is blocking UK access after plans to criminalise creation. This was always my justification for criminalisation: end easy access & normalisation
I'm honoured to be elected as an Academic Bencher of
@TheInnerTemple
and appreciate support and encouragement of
@Harini_Iyengar
Looking forward to working on challenges facing the legal profession around diversity and inequality, as well as how tech is changing education & law
Shame on you
@cpsuk
It's even one thing to fight a case, but quite another to then demand this money from charities and individuals fighting for rape survivors
#ShameOnCPS
AND, in the most undignified part of the whole day - after permission was denied, the CPS then argued really hard for huge costs from us - even though most of the money we have for this case is clearly small donations from rape survivors deeply concerned abt justice...
Watch tonight
@BBCPanorama
on how men are taking and trading nudes with impunity. Read more here and I’m on
@bbc5live
just after 8 to talk about how law must be changed
#OnlineSafetyBill
Why hasn't cancel culture targeted pornography?
Important comment from
@HaleyMcNamara
asking why we keep ignoring the racism and sexual violence in porn
Well, guess what, a 'high-flying' man with a first class degree can also commit sexual offences -
#shocker
PWC accountant, 24, caught with 1,700 upskirting images, spared jail via
@MailOnline
We welcomed Lady Hale, President
@UKSupremeCourt
to deliver the first of our
#GlobalLectureSeries
in London. Over the next few months, we will be giving a platform to eminent speakers from across the globe 🌍 Find out more 👉
Read this - it's all you need to know about the problems with Pornhub and why it needs regulating. And, just in case you are thinking of it; no, more
#SelfRegulation
is not going to do it. Great work by
@Kate_Isaacs
@NotYourPorn
Universities have choices - and
@UniofNewcastle
chose to offer a place to convicted stalker while his victim still studying at Newcastle. Think of that when reading the statement that they take these issues 'seriously':
Use of nudifying tech is now rampant in schools. Who to blame? Yes the boys are responsible, but us adults are truly to blame.
We have failed to act against deepfake abuse & failed to take non-consent seriously. We are failing our boys & girls
Deepfake sexual abuse is not a 'fantasy' but has real- world implications with potentially devastating effects. It's a violation, a threat & is silencing women and girls.
Read more from
@_JessicaDavies
on campaigns to criminalise creating deefpakes
FINALLY! After 9 years of saying this law reform needed, we have prospect of change. But this is only 1st step in securing justice for victims. This change not cover taking images or court orders to get material taken down.
#Onwards
Another *extraordinary* update: the nudify app behind the abuse of so many women, especially teenage girls,
#ClothOff
has also been blocked for UK users.
This reduces the easy access & normalisation of AI generated sexual abuse. Criminalisation makes a difference
#Change
A truly seismic moment in the fight against deepfake sexual abuse. Change is possible.
The most notorious
#deepfake
sexual abuse site is blocking UK access after plans to criminalise creation. This was always my justification for criminalisation: end easy access & normalisation
Thinking about what justice means in context of sexual violence? We spoke to survivors about their views on justice finding them complex, varied and nuanced
@Nwestmarland
It is the utter simplicity of this statement that makes it so true and compelling - Supreme Court Justice Lady Hale: “Everybody in this room should be a feminist.”
New
@Channel4News
investigation finds sexually explicit deepfakes of many UK women politicians.
Deepfake sexual abuse threatens our democracy and must be taken more seriously.
That means comprehensive change
#StopImageBasedAbuse
This is totally unacceptable material to be included anywhere let alone for new students arriving - what does it say about the environment they are coming into -
@SussexUni
Important report on image based abuse. But really wish focus was not on what women can do to 'prevent it'.
Can we focus instead on telling perps why they shouldn't take & share w/out consent? And why police & Gov't should take it more seriously?
The global movement challenging porn sites for hosting unlawful material is stepping up, with important article here
@NickKristof
@nytimes
Includes ref to my recent research with
@VeraGrayF
@durham_uni
on extent of sexually violent porn offered to 1st time users
#Accountability
In Opinion
The exploitation of sexual assault victims on porn sites “is rooted not in a single company but in an industry that operates with impunity,” writes
@NickKristof
. “Why do we let companies get away with this?”
The bizarre world we live in where it’s taken 5 years and a court of appeal judgment to rule that filming someone during sex without their consent is criminal
#absurd
#finally
You’re still reading – thank you! Yes, even writing
@Twitter
threads takes a lot of time. But it's real work too. We must push back at universities that encourage us to use
#socialmedia
then drop us as soon as there's abuse or controversy or don't give us
#time
Reposting my blog calling for new offence of *creating* sexually explicit deepfakes.
Each day brings new reports, such as in Korea, about this violating, threatening abuse affecting mainly women and girls.
When we will begin to take this seriously?
Deepfake sexual abuse reported to police but they do nothing, closing case by text.
Action only after a complaint is made. Funnily enough, they now recognise their error.
This is sexually explicit deepfakes of a 12 year old girl circulating in school
How effective is
@X
at removing non-consensual intimate images?
100% effective if a copyright infringement.
But 0% if flagged as non-consensual imagery.
As authors state, we need laws putting
#NCII
on same footing as copyright
Read and digest this. Women telling us about the enduring & devastating impact of sexual images being shared without consent
#SocialRupture
#Constancy
‘There’s no end and no escape. You feel so, so exposed’: life as a victim of revenge porn
New from me: the
#InvisibleThreat
of
#deepfake
sexual abuse is now pervading the lives of all women & girls.
It can happen to any of us, any time & there's nothing we can do.
It's time to consider criminalising creating sexualised deepfakes w/out consent
Ireland is confronting high levels of sexual violence, espec among young people.
We need to look at the cultural messages young people are getting about sex & sexual violence in porn.
My new blog with
@VeraGrayF
@thejournal_ie
My motivation most days but eloquently stated by Catharine MacKinnon in 1979 re her work on
#SexualHarassment
‘I hope to bring to the law something of the reality of women’s lives’
#FeministLawReform
Even if innocent, point is that women every day are having to navigate these fears and constraints because it might not have been innocent. This is the
#SafetyWork
(thanks
@ProfLizKelly
for naming this for us) that women have to do every single day.
New campaign calling on next UK Gov to adopt a comprehensive Image-Based Abuse Law to protect-and free-women & girls online, led by
@EVAWuk
@NotYourPorn
@GlamourMagUK
Delighted to be part of this urgent call to action, with 5 key asks 👇
My evidence today suggested we should talk about 'patterns of offending' rather than 'escalation' to ensure (a) we treat these offences seriously in and of themselves & (b) so we capture the broad nature of offending over time inc online
#ContinuumOffending
#ContinuumVAW
🗣️The first session of our inquiry into non-contact sexual offences is now underway. We are hearing from:
Lisa Squire, mother of Libby Squire and campaigner
@McGlynnClare
@ProfSexualities
@KatrinHohl
📺Watch here:
For a more in-depth analysis of what the
#GraceMillane
trial tells us about attitudes to violence against women - and the lack of understanding of women's experiences - see this excellent article by
@NicolaGavey
Please change headline.
Term 'revenge porn' actively hinders victims' recovery & causes trauma.
It's also inaccurate-whole point of the law reform is this abuse is far more than malicious ex-partners:
Revenge porn laws to be overhauled to help victims
My latest: Towards a New Criminal Offence of Intimate Intrusions.
Why?
➡️starts from women's experiences of everyday intrusion & harm
➡️challenges current ad hoc, confusing criminal law
➡️aims to future-proof the law.
Draws on pioneering work of
@ProfLizKelly
@BetsyTwicks
Thinking about what justice means in cases of sexual violence? Here's what we found when speaking to survivors - it's kaleidoscopic - my research w
@Nwestmarland
Government claims motive for sharing sexual images w/out consent is not sexual, therefore it's not a sexual offence.
Deeply worrying statement as this entirely misunderstands the motives & nature of sexual offending
#NotSexualMotives
#Control
#Power
Many horrific elements to the crimes against Holly Willoughby inc his possession of sexually explicit deepfakes of her: fuelling his plans.
Vital reminder celebrities deserve the same protection from deepfake abuse, despite justifications of creators
On
@GMB
at 820am to discuss the first
#cyberflashing
conviction alongside the inspiring
@SCFGallagher
who has done so much to raise awareness of this harmful practice
How is deepfake sexual abuse thriving?
Because Google and Apple make it easy to create accounts on deepfake websites—giving a veneer of credibility—before you pay for credits & generate abusive images.
Vital reporting from
@mattburgess1
@WIRED
Powerful and moving, even if you think you know the background: ‘I stood up and fought back’: how intimate image abuse survivor Georgia Harrison got her abuser jailed
Sexually violent porn is not hidden on the dark web, it's free & easy to access on mainstream porn websites
#NormalisingSexualViolence
#CulturalHarm
Read summary & policy implications of my latest research with
@VeraGrayF