Revenge Porn

FAQ Revenge Porn

A: No. You can be convicted for simply threatening to do so. The first man ever convicted was a 59-year-old male from Jedburgh. He threatened to unload an explicit video of his former partner to the internet. When confronted with his emails, he pled guilty at Jedburgh Sheriff Court and was sentenced to a £200 fine as well as a three-year court order forbidding contact with the victim.
Q: You had consent or believe you had consent.
A: We defend persons charged with crimes, please contact Police Scotland
A: The Scottish law mirrors Section 33 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act of 2015 in England. However, Scottish law also stipulates that you intended to cause distress. This makes prosecutions in Scotland more difficult.

Revenge porn is posting images on the internet or other electronic means without the consent of the person involved.

The images and or videos may have been taken surreptitiously. It is a major growth area.

In Scotland, it is known as The Abusive Behaviour and Sexual Harm (Scotland) Act 2016  and it came in to force in April 2017. The legislation was passed unanimously by MSP’s in the Scottish Parliament.

Since coming into force the following are now unlawful:

  • Images or video showing people engaged in a sexual activity which would not usually be done in public, or with their genitals, buttocks or breasts exposed or covered only with underwear or threatening to do so 
  • does not cover the sharing of other materials such as private text messages and emails which are dealt with under separate legislation (eg WhatsApp) however it does cover Facebook, Youtube, Instagram, Vimeo. A site such as Pornhub would very much be i
  • does not apply to sharing photographs of naked protests or streakers at sports matches.