MPs urge smoking-style clampdown on porn to tackle 'relentless' harassment of women
2 min read
Ministers should treat pornography as a major public health issue to combat the harassment and abuse of women, MPs have said.
The cross-party Women and Equalities Committee said the rise of explicit images online could be fuelling a "relentless" culture of harassment of women and girls and urged the Government to take it as seriously as smoking or road safety.
In a new report, they call for new laws to tackle image-based sexual abuse, including the creation of so-called 'revenge porn' and the sending of unsolicited “dickpics”.
A 2018 YouGov poll found that 41 per cent of younger women had received lewd images without their consent, with 23 percent finding the images “distressing”, and 17 per cent saying they viewed the messages as “threatening”.
The MPs also urge ministers to make it harder to view pornography in public places, including by forcing bus and rail operators to block access on public WiFi.
Committee chair Maria Miller said it was “not acceptable” for women to have to change their behaviour to avoid being harassed.
“Sexual harassment in public place is a regular experience for many women and girls in the street, in bars and clubs, on buses and trains, at university and online,” she said.
“It is the most common form of violence against women and girls and the damage is far-reaching. And yet most of it goes unreported.”
The Tory MP added: “It can make women and girls scared and stressed, avoid certain routes home at night or certain train carriages, wear headphones while out running; women feel the onus is put on them to avoid ‘risky’ situations."
The committee also warns that the Government's current pledge to eliminate sexual harassment of women and girls by 2030 lacks detail.
They say that there is no evidence of any actual programme in place to achieve the aim, with sexual harassment almost entirely absent from the current cross-Whitehall strategy for tackling Violence Against Women and Girls.
Ms Miller added: “The #MeToo movement shows that we must confront deeply uncomfortable truths about our society and the attitudes some men hold. Laws alone cannot solve the cultural acceptability of sexual harassment.
“That is why we have set out a series of practical measures that Government, public transport operators, local authorities and universities should implement immediately. Public places must be made safe for all women and girls.”
PoliticsHome Newsletters
PoliticsHome provides the most comprehensive coverage of UK politics anywhere on the web, offering high quality original reporting and analysis: Subscribe
