Upskirting ’should be a criminal offence’, a charity that helps victims has said.

Victim Support Isle of Man says that the island’s legislation should include ’upskirting’ - when a person takes a photo up someone’s skirt without their permission - as it is ’a form of sexual abuse’.

Upskirting is not criminalised in the island, but the public are now being asked by the government whether they agree it is a form of image-based sexual abuse as part of its consultation for a new proposed Sexual Offences Act.

The charity announced that it is yet to fully analyse the consultation, which has only just been released, and will be taking its time to read through the paper as a ’large proportion of its work deals with those affected by sexual assault’.

It stated that 143 new sexual assault referrals were made to the charity within the past two years.

Paula Gelling from Victim Support, who is the only qualified Independent Sexual Violence advisor (ISVA) in the Isle of Man, said that taking indecent images without consent is ’dreadful in itself’.

’Add on the impact of an intimate image being circulated without the persons consent or knowledge and it is devastating,’ she said.

’The victim will feel guilt, despite them not committing a crime. They will feel shame, humiliation and embarrassment which makes it hard to report the crime.

’If the victim is vulnerable anyway, this will have a negative effect on them, knocking a big hole in their confidence and self-esteem.’

Miss Gelling added that the circulation of an image can affect their present and future employment and therefore their financial stability.

’Upskirting is a form of sexual abuse and should be included in the proposed legislation,’ she continued.

’The question whether upskirting should be treated as a separate offence to recording an image without consent is going to be subject to a variety of answers.

’The level of any penalty, of a crime committed under the recording of an image without consent, would be decided by the court, following an investigation into the scale of the issue by the police.

’Therefore upskirting could be included within the recording of an image without consent. Image based sexual crimes should be a criminal offence.’

Over the last year Victim Support has not seen a rise in image-based sexual abuse.

She explained: ’It has been present since the internet and mobile phones with cameras, have been about. It can happen to anyone of any age, particularly on dating sites when people are urged to share pictures and perpetrators can use them as blackmail.’

In the consultation it states that police officers are frequently tasked with handling cases involving explicit imagery being digitally shared among all age demographics, ’but none more so than with school age teenagers’.

The police say increased use of the internet, social media and other technology are used to humiliate, control and threaten individuals.

If anyone has been affected by a sexual crime either recently or historically and would like support, contact Victim Support on 679950 or [email protected] to make an appointment.