Intimate image abuse is a form of sexual abuse whereby a person produces or shares intimate content, or threatens to do so, without the consent of the person depicted in that content. Changing Lives along with our partners in the Adult Sexual Exploitation (ASE) Partnership – formerly known a STAGE - have supported women for a number of years who have been subject to this abuse, including sex workers whose content has been illegally reproduced and women whose experiences of sexual exploitation have included intimate image abuse.
What we have found through our work with these women is that more needs to be done at a national level to ensure all forms of intimate image abuse can be appropriately dealt with, including considering how cultural sensitivities are not being addressed in existing legislation.
In August 2023, the ASE Partnership published a report outlining the unique experiences of racially minoritised women who have experienced adult sexual exploitation. In this report we found that racially minoritised women are more likely to experience forms of intimate image abuse that take advantage of cultural and religious values to control and blackmail them. In order to better protect these survivors, we recommended that the legal definition of intimate image be broadened to include specific cultural examples, including but not limited to images of women not wearing a hijab or niqab who normally would do so in front of non-mahram men.
Then, in early 2024, we worked closely with Jess Phillips MP, subsequently appointed Safeguarding and VAWG Minister, to push forward an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill to extend the definition of ‘intimate image’ to include specific categories of image that may be considered intimate by particular religious or cultural groups, including “the person not wearing modesty clothing such as a hijab or niqab when they normally do so.”
Therefore, we are delighted to see the Women and Equalities Committee’s recently published report Tackling Non-Consensual Intimate Image Abuse, which recommends that “the Government should extend the legal definition of an intimate image to include images where “because of the person’s religious or cultural background, the person commonly wears particular attire of religious or cultural significance when in public; and the material depicts, or appears to depict, the person: (a) without that attire; and (b) in circumstances in which an ordinary reasonable person would reasonably expect to be afforded privacy”. (p.31) The introduction of this extended definition would greatly improve the outcomes for survivors of culturally intimate image abuse, and we hope to see the government take this on board.
The report also outlines a recommendation to create a common definition of VAWG, as part of its mission to reduce it by 50% in the next decade (p.41). By clearly defining violence against women and girls, we will be able to accurately measure this reduction. It will also ensure that survivors of forms of violence that are not often recognised, such as survivors of adult sexual exploitation, are considered within this mission. We would be delighted to see the introduction of this definition and hope to see the realities of ASE brought to light through it.
