Men Who Send Pictures of their Genitals to Strangers Online May Now Face Up to Two Years in Jail

A law change in England and Wales will now see men who take part in cyber-flashing by sending picture of their genitals to strangers, face up to two years in jail and be made to sign the sex offenders register.

Cyber-flashing is when a person is sent an unsolicited sexual image on their mobile device by an unknown person nearby through social media, messages, or other sharing functions such as Airdrop.

According to Mail Online, there is currently no law that directly addresses cyber-flashing in England and Wales, despite the act being made illegal in Scotland around 12 years ago. But now, there’s a move to reflect penalties for indecent exposure in public, cyber-flashing is set to be included in the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

It will be an offence for someone to expose themselves with the intention of causing ‘alarm or distress’. The victim can be anyone, whether a stranger or someone known to the perpetrator.

It is understood that a cyber-flasher could still be found guilty if they send a picture of someone else’s genitals.

Snapchat was the most common platform used for image-based sexual harassment, according to the survey findings.

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