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"No Offence, But...": How to have difficult conversations for meaningful change

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Opinion For too long bystanders of sexual harassment have not been held accountable. That’s got to change. A summary conviction would carry a sentence of up to one year in prison and/or a fine. And a more serious offence, tried in the Crown Court, would carry a sentence of up to two years in prison. Currently, ‘upskirting’ does not go unpunished in England and Wales, and there have been successful prosecutions under the Outraging Public Decency (OPD) offence.

To date, the behaviour has been successfully prosecuted under the offence of Outraging Public Decency. It creates two new offences under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to capture this behaviour. The changes will cover England and Wales; ‘upskirting’ is already a specific offence in Scotland. Those who commit such a degrading act will face prison, and victims’ complaints will be dealt with seriously.Beyond Equality also provide teacher training to help teachers at the frontline in the fight against gender-based violence and misogyny. It would capture instances where the purpose is to obtain sexual gratification or cause humiliation, distress or alarm. The criminal offence of ‘upskirting’ was created under the Voyeurism Act when it received Royal Assent in February. Police and prosecutors have now updated their guidance to ensure the law is properly enforced – with offenders facing up to 2 years in jail and being placed on the sex offenders register. The new law captures instances where the purpose is to obtain sexual gratification or cause humiliation, distress or alarm.

After 18 months of tireless work, today we’ve finally done it. As the Queen formally agrees to make our bill into an Act of Parliament, we should see this campaign as not only essential legislative change, but also proof that normal people and grassroots campaigning can make a real difference. It’s a reminder to, instead of saying ‘someone should do something about this’, be that someone. Girls are just effervescent they’re like, yes! They don’t have an option to talk about sexual harassment, sexism and gender double standards. They don’t feel necessarily comfortable doing it with the teachers because they feel like they’ll get in trouble.” A report from UN Women UK has shown that 71 per cent of women of all ages have experienced some form of sexual harassment in a public space.In this livestreamed and interactive event, Martin will be joined by two of the book’s contributors - Ben Hurst from Beyond Equality, and writer Cathy Reay - to dissect the most frustrating phrases and share what we can all do to have positive conversations for meaningful change. You will also have the opportunity to share your own questions and comments in this livestreamed event. Though I’m not rejecting my past work, I see my purpose now as trying to make my own law moot; if I can contribute to a reality where sexual assault is significantly reduced and the voyeurism act is used less, I’ll be happy. If I can do work that breaks the circuit of lost boys becoming insecure men who use sexual assault as a way to feel powerful, I’ll be proud. Today marks the culmination of tireless campaigning from Gina Martin and other victims, MPs and charities who worked closely with Ministers to create the new law and protect more victims. Our specially selected guests include CEO’s, founders, charity leaders, business leaders, activists, campaigners and more. From Beirut to Canada, we have sought out engaging speakers and fascinating stories with a universal relevance for those of us with a thirst for doing things differently. More + Project In our increasingly polarised society, having productive discussions about social justice issues has never been more challenging, or more crucial. From the persistent ('not all men,' 'I don't see colour') to the insidious ('to play devil's advocate...', 'climate change is coming'), too often, antagonistic or problematic responses threaten to distract and derail our most urgent conversations.

However, existing criminal law does not necessarily cover every instance of ‘upskirting.’ Creating a specific ‘upskirting’ offence would strengthen the law in this area, as it doesn’t have the same limitations as existing offences. The Voyeurism Act allows this intrusive behaviour to be treated as a sexual offence and, ensure that the most serious offenders are made subject to notification requirements (commonly referred to as the ‘sex offenders register’). In 2017, I believed the best way to prevent upskirting was by criminalising it; it was the biggest I could think and would lead to the most impactful change. The institutional script teaches us that prosecuting people for the harm they cause will solve the problem. I was also driven by the experience of being a victim of stalking who had spent years feeling terrified by a man that the state didn’t deal with, so to me, changing the law was about making victims and survivors feel safer by giving them something to use. I didn’t ask if the men who commit this act – because it is overwhelmingly men – would be changed by the process. I didn’t think of them much at all.However, following concerns raised by victims that not all instances of ‘upskirting’ were covered by current law, the government acted to create a new, specific offence. The Voyeurism Bill outlaws ‘upskirting’ where the purpose is to obtain sexual gratification, or to cause humiliation, distress or alarm. This includes instances where culprits say images were just taken ‘for a laugh’ or when paparazzi are caught taking intrusive images. Upskirting is a harmful and humiliating form of abuse and often has a devastating impact on all aspects of the victim’s life. We have long been calling, along with the campaigner Gina Martin and a cross-party of MPs, for upskirting to be recognised as a sexual offence. The Ministry of Justice has listened to campaigners’ calls for action on this issue and taken decisive action. Following the bill gaining Royal Assent this week, upskirting is now a criminal offence. In 2017, Gina and her sister attended British Summertime, a family-friendly daytime festival in London. At 5pm, in a crowd of over 60,000 people, they were standing next to a group of men who were overstepping the mark when interacting with Gina and her sister, including making jokes that then turned into more vulgar and sexual comments. To Gina’s horror, she then caught a glimpse of one of the group's phones and on it was a picture of her crotch.

This was overall a brilliant and eye-opening reading for me. I immensely enjoyed the author's own chapters, specifically "Innocent Until Proven Guilty", "Not All Men" and "It Was a Different Time". It has helped me gain a deeper insight behind these harmful utterances and more importantly, it has guided me to notice the hidden views of the speakers of these utterances hold. Perhaps the views even they have not noticed themselves. And I have not read this book to help me in my discussions for I usually have no tolerance regarding harmful language nor the patience to hold them in the first place. I read it so I can feel better and less angry upon coming across these iterations. And it did help me calm down, seeing the intentions and insecurities behind these sayings clearly will be a long-term reminder that these sayings have absolutely nothing to do with me but everything to do with the owner of them. Understanding how perceptions of safety can be improved, and incidents of harassment and threatening behaviour reduced in public spaces across Cambridgeshire. More +

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Currently the behaviour is successfully prosecuted under the offence of Outraging Public Decency. However, following concerns raised by victims that not all instances of ‘upskirting’ were covered by current law, the government acted to create a new, specific offence. However, existing criminal law does not necessarily cover every instance of ‘upskirting.’ Creating a specific ‘upskirting’ offence strengthens the law in this area, as it doesn’t have the same limitations as existing offences. The Voyeurism Act allows this intrusive behaviour to be treated as a sexual offence and, ensure that the most serious offenders are made subject to notification requirements (commonly referred to as the ‘sex offenders register’). Gina Martin is a gender equality campaigner, speaker and writer whose work focuses on gender, misogyny and sexual violence. Her book, No Offence, But … is published on 27 July Beyond Equality is an organisation that educates men to preventing gender-based violence, conducting workshops in schools and universities.

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