Cyberflashing the unsolicited sending of photos or videos of genitals may soon be acrimein England and Wales.
Surveys have foundthatnearly halfof young adult women have been sent unwanted, graphic images by men.
Receiving so-calleddick picsis especially common among women who use dating apps.
In some high-profile cases, people have even beenAirDropped imagesby thehundredswhile traveling on public transport.
In 2019,British Transport Police foundthat 88% of those targeted were women.
Cyberflashing has clear parallels withindecent exposure, which is already a sexual offense carrying a maximum two-year custodial sentence.
But it is not clear whether this law applies to digital forms of exposure.
Campaigners,MPsand the dating appBumbleare all calling for the law to change to close this loophole.
Politicians are now discussing how cyberflashing may be included in the forthcoming Online Safety bill.
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Hopefully, it may also deter would-be cyberflashing offenders from hitting send.
At its core, the non-consensual nature of this conduct makes it violating and intrusive, as womenstestimoniesstress.
Cyberflashing may also be experienced as harassment.
This could be seen as confusing or even threatening.
This scenario happened to a woman I spoke to in a research interview.
She described the incident as shocking and that she became scared by him.
Women mayfeara mans intrusive behavior will escalate to violence.
This brings us to another argument for criminalizing cyberflashing.
This recognizes the nature of the behavior and its effects.
It is here there are some concerns about proving intent.
Proving a sexual motive should be an easier task for prosecutors.
We can no longer give carte blanche to those so inclined to expose themselves online.
It is criminally wrong, and women have had enough.
