Upskirting: How an MP’s fight to stop sexual violence echoed around the world

The police explain it as: Upskirting is the act of operating equipment or recording an image from underneath a person’s clothing without their consent or reasonable belief in their consent.¹

The police give examples of upskirting happening:
1 – on public transport
2 – on stairs or escalators
3 – at schools or public events.

Two campaigns needed to come together to achieve a change in the law. The first was a public campaign, the second was to win support in Parliament for a new law.

If there is a face for the public campaign to criminalise upskirting, it is Gina Martin. She was upskirted in 2017 at a music festival. On discovering that there was no law covering this offence in England and Wales, she teamed up with lawyer Ryan Whelan. Their campaign built the momentum for change. As the debate moved to Parliament, they lobbied the government and persuaded Ministers to offer their support.

On 6th March 2018, Wera Hobhouse presented her Bill to the House of Commons to make upskirting illegal.

Hansard records it as:

Voyeurism (Offences)

Presentation and First Reading (Standing Order No. 57)

Wera Hobhouse, supported by Sir Vince Cable, Jo Swinson, Christine Jardine, Layla Moran, Caroline Lucas, Anna Soubry, Jeremy Lefroy, Catherine West, Grahame Morris, Tonia Antoniazzi and Ben Lake, presented a Bill to make certain acts of voyeurism an offence.

Bill read the First time; to be read a Second time on Friday 11 May 2018, and to be printed (Bill 174).³

Subsequently, the second reading date was changed to Friday 15th June 2018.

Only a handful of Backbench Bills get through Parliament every year, sometimes even less than that. For Bill number 174 to make any progress without any debating time, it needed support from the government. Or, even better, the Prime Minister. On Wednesday 2nd May 2018, Wera had the first question.

Wera Hobhouse: “Upskirting is the vile practice of taking a photo under a woman’s skirt without her consent. It is neither a specific nor a sexual offence under the current law in England and Wales. I have been working closely with Gina Martin, who has been campaigning for months to change that, and her lawyer to produce a Private Member’s Bill to make upskirting a specific crime under the Sexual Offences Act 2003. They have both joined us here today.”

“Does the Prime Minister agree with us that the law in England and Wales should be reformed so that, in all circumstances, women like Gina and, indeed, the Prime Minister herself will be protected from upskirt images being taken without their consent?”

The Prime Minister replied: “May I first say to the hon. Lady that I share the outrage at this intrusive behaviour that she has referred to and the distress it can cause to victims. We are determined to ensure that victims do have confidence that their complaints will be taken seriously. It is possible currently to bring prosecutions, but my right hon. Friend the Justice Secretary is examining the state of the law at the moment to make sure it is fit for purpose and, as part of that work, he is considering her Bill in detail.”

“With the Prime Minister’s support, Gina Martin and Ryan Whelan in the gallery and Wera’s Bill scheduled for its second reading, the stage was set.”

Optimism was in the air on the morning of the Bill’s second reading. Wera appeared on the BBC and other news outlets to talk about upskirting and the proposed change in the law.

Wera was cautious, knowing the difficulties of getting Backbench legislation through Parliament. She alerted the BBC to keep their cameras live as the Bill was called.

With one word from Christopher Chope MP⁵ , the second reading of Wera’s Bill was opposed. Because it had no debating time allocated, there was no possibility of calling a division to vote on the bill.

This is how Hansard records it⁶:

Voyeurism (Offences) Bill

Motion made, That the Bill be now read a Second time.

Hon. Members
Object.

Wera Hobhouse ‘angry’ after Tory MP blocks upskirting law

22 bills were tabled on the Parliamentary timetable on 15th June. Only two successfully completed their passage through the House of Commons before moving to the Lords. The Upskirting Bill was one of them.

The Bill progressed because the government took it into its own name and passed it through the House of Commons as a government Bill. This outcome is very rare and demonstrated both government support as well as public outcry that the Bill had been blocked.

After passing through the remaining stages in the House of Commons, the Bill went to the House of Lords and was passed into law on January 15th 2019.⁷

Since the Voyeurism Act passed many cases have hit the news showing the law in action.

Four men were jailed for upskirting in the law’s first year⁸. In total 16 men were convicted of 48 offences⁹. The majority of cases took place in supermarkets, shops and on public transport. Some happened in schools. The individuals convicted face up to two years in custody.

Freedom of Information requests to police forces in England and Wales revealed that over 150 reports of upskirting had been made between April and October in 2019. Victims ranged from as young as 10 to 74 years old.¹⁰

Figures from the Crown Prosecution Service show that between 2019 and 2022, over 300 cases began prosecution in the magistrates’ courts.¹¹

Some of the most notable cases are:

While in Scotland upskirting had been criminalised since 2010, after the Act was passed in England and Wales many countries quickly followed suit.

In particular, France introduced an upskirting law inspired by the Voyeurism Act.

It was this law that first led to Dominique Pelicot’s horrific crimes being brought to light in 2020. He was caught by a security guard as he tried to upskirt women in a supermarket. When the police investigated they found more than 20,000 photos and videos revealing the vile abuse Pelicot had put his wife through.

In 2024 Pelicot was sentenced for 20 years in prison after drugging and raping his wife for a decade. He repeatedly put sleeping pills in Gisèle Pelicot’s food and drink to make her unconscious. While she was asleep, he raped her and invited over 70 men to join in. Only 47 of these men were found guilty.

Gisèle was worried she had Alzheimer’s disease because she was sleeping so much and had many memory lapses. However the tests came back negative and no doctors spotted the signs of abuse.

Without the upskirting law and the security guard who first spotted Dominique Pelicot upskirting, the true extent of his vile crimes may never have been discovered.

Before the Act was passed, it was clear that upskirting was becoming an increasingly worrying problem. Between 2013 and 2017, the British Transport Police reported a 178% rise in the number of upskirting cases.¹⁶

Attitudes towards upskirting ranged from dismissive to neglectful.

In 2018…

While activists, campaigners and Wera herself hoped for attitudes to change after the Act was passed, cases have continued to rise.

In 2021, the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Upskirting prosecutions more than doubled over the second year of the legislation being in force, with CPS analysis finding at least a third of offenders are also committing other serious sexual crimes”.¹⁹

In many cases, the CPS found that upskirting was a precursor or gateway to more violent forms of assault like child abuse, sexual assault and extreme pornography.

The CPS’ national lead for sexual offence prosecutions, Siobhan Blake, said that offenders had not been deterred from upskirting despite the change in the law. The CPS also revealed that perpetrators were using more covert methods to upskirt like hiding cameras in shoes or shopping baskets while in the supermarket.

While it’s not clear that the Act has changed behaviour to deter perpetrators, it may have spurred a shift in attitudes for victims. The sharp increase in reports of upskirting following the Act could be down to victims feeling more confident that their reports will be dealt with appropriately by the police now that new laws exist to charge perpetrators.

While they may not be deterred, perpetrators are aware of the change in the law. As the CPS discovered in 2021 perpetrators are now more likely to use covert methods to upskirt in plain sight.

In 2025 The Times highlighted that Meta Raybans – smart glasses with built-in cameras and open-ear audio – could make spotting covert upskirting an even tougher challenge.²⁰

After the glasses became a Christmas bestseller, journalist Matt Rudd tested them out. The glasses appear ordinary but can photograph or record whatever you see at the click of a button. The only sign that they are recording is a small, white light. This light can also be disabled.

Speaking to The Times about the rising trend of smart glasses, Wera said:

“As smart glasses become more popular, I’m concerned that they could make it easier for predators to covertly upskirt.”

“While I hope that my work to make upskirting illegal will continue to act as a deterrent, it’s really important that we closely monitor the use of smart glasses to make sure that the law is being enforced and that people know this predatory behaviour is unacceptable.”

While criminalising upskirting was a significant step towards reducing sexual violence, the law must be enforced as robustly as possible. Perpetrators should know that they will face the full force of the law for their crimes. To face the emerging challenges of tomorrow, firm enforcement and a tough approach to upskirting is vital.

1. “Upskirting”, College of Policing, July 15, 2024, https://www.college.police.uk/
2.  Voyeurism (Offences) Bill, Hansard, https://publications.parliament.uk/
3. Mr Speaker, “Points of Order”, Hansard, March 6th, 2018, https://hansard.parliament.uk/
4. Wera Hobhouse, “Engagements”, Hansard, May 2nd, 2018, https://hansard.parliament.uk/
5. Wikipedia, “Christopher Chope”, https://en.wikipedia.org/
6. Christopher Chope, “Business without debate”, Hansard, June 15th, 2018, https://hansard.parliament.uk/
7. “Voyeurism (Offences) (No. 2) Bill”, Hansard, January 15th, 2019, https://hansard.parliament.uk/
8. PA Media, “Four men  jailed in first year since upskirting law was introduced”, The Guardian, April 11th, 2020, https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/apr/11/four-men-jailed-year-upskirting-law-introduced
9. “What is Upskirting?”, Safeline, https://safeline.org.uk/
10. “Upskirting law: Children among 150 victims, figures show”, BBC, January 10th, 2020, https://www.bbc.co.uk/
11. “Upskirting prosecutions 2019-2022”, CPS, May 16th, 2023, https://www.cps.gov.uk/
12. Liam Barnes, “Nottingham man jailed for upskirting schoolgirls on streets”, BBC, July 25th, 2024, https://www.bbc.co.uk/
13. Aurelia Foster, “Man caught upskirting at British Museum jailed”, BBC, August 30th, 2024, https://www.bbc.co.uk/
14. Tom Cotterill, “Man, 27, is arrested over viral TikTok videos of ‘women that were filmed without their consent on nights out in Manchester and then charged for explicit upskirting footage”, Daily Mail, November 27th, 2024, https://www.dailymail.co.uk/
15. “Upskirting delivery driver jailed”, Cambridgeshire Constabulary, January 14th, 2025, https://www.cambs.police.uk/
16. Megan Huziej, “What is Upskirting?”, CPD Online, January 15th, 2025, https://cpdonline.co.uk/
17. Amelia Tait, “One in ten men don’t think upskirting is sexual harassment – we investigate why”, GQ, October 29th, 2018, http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/
18. Lizzie Dearden, “‘Upskirting’ must be made a criminal offence as girls as young as 10 are photographed, campaigners say”, Independent, February 19th, 2018, https://www.independent.co.uk/
19. “UPSKIRTING: Public urged to report offenders as prosecutions double”, CPS, December, 3rd, 2021, https://www.cps.gov.uk/c
20. Matt Rudd, “My day wearing Meta smart glasses, secretly filming everyone”, The Times, January 11th, 2025, https://www.thetimes.com/