If a man takes a photo up a womanās skirt in a public space, you would expect it to be fairly easy for the victim to prosecute. However, thatās unfortunately not the experience that Gina Martin has had.
On 8 July Gina was watching the Killers at the British Summer Time festival in Hyde Park, London, when she says two men took upskirt photos of her without her knowledge or permission.
Distressed after seeing the photos the men were sending to each other, Gina ā a digital creative and freelance writer who lives in London ā grabbed one of their phones and ran to security to report the incident.
However, Gina says the police officer said to her: āIām really sorry, Iāve had to look at the picture to identify itās you ā but thereās not really much we can do because itās not graphic.ā
Gina, right, with her friend at the festival, with the men allegedly responsible for the photographs in the background pixelated (Gina Miller/PA)
The way Gina interpreted this was that as she was wearing underwear, the police didnāt think there was much that could be done in prosecuting the men. However, upskirt photography is in fact something that can be prosecuted ā and has been in the past.
Five days later, Gina got a call from another police officer saying that her case was closed.
āI was really upset by this,ā Gina says. āI was on the way to another festival for work, and I tried to have a good time but I was just scared of it happening again that I actually didnāt wear a skirt which is so sad.ā
Sign & share my @Care2 petition. Put pressure on the authorities to make upskirt photos illegal & NOT a grey area šŖš½https://t.co/hhpboaIRiM
ā Gina Martin (@beaniegigi) July 20, 2017
Since finding out that her case was closed, Gina has looked more into the laws of upskirt photography. She says: āI can technically prosecute, but itās under a common law from 100 years ago about outraging public decency.
āItās not under the Sexual Offences Act of 2003 ā thatās the issue, and thatās what Iām trying to get changed.ā
Gina set up a petition explaining her situation and gathering public pressure for her case to be reopened. Her petition has gained so much momentum (with over 30,000 supporters) that the Met Police has agreed to reopen her case.
Unnecessary (but kind). Sexual bullying is an offence. Sexually gratifying yourself at someone else's expense is an offence. No excuses.
ā Simon Myerson QC (@SCynic1) July 24, 2017
A spokeswoman for the Met Police says: āThe Met takes allegations of voyeurism seriously and does and will investigate them thoroughly. We use a range of policing tactics and deploy officers on specific operations to target this sort of criminal behaviour based on intelligence. We understand that it can be incredibly invasive and distressing for those that this happens to.
āIn this specific case we believed the allegation had originally been dealt with in line with the victimās wishes. We have subsequently recontacted the victim and enquiries are ongoing.ā
Even though this is a positive outcome from the campaign, Gina is still shocked at the response sheās got. Half of the messages sheās received have been from women thanking her for taking a stand and sharing their own stories of sexual harassment, whereas the other half have been men giving Gina abuse.
Taking photos up girls skirts IS a crime, genitalia or not, it 'violates your dignity &makes you feel intimidated, degraded or humiliated'
ā Girls Against (@girlsagainst) July 18, 2017
āIāve been told I should have been raped,ā Gina says. āIāve been told I should have worn a longer skirt.ā
This reaction ā from both sides ā is what has pushed Gina to do something about it. She says: āIām going to be writing a letter to my MP about debating this, and hopefully getting the law codified or amended so that upskirt photography is listed under the Sexual Offences Act as a sexual offence.
āItās about clarifying the law and putting it out there that this is not okay.ā
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