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

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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. 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. We have always been clear – there are no excuses for this behaviour and offenders should feel the full force of the law. From today, they will. Currently, ‘upskirting’ does not go unpunished in England and Wales, and there have been successful prosecutions under the Outraging Public Decency (OPD) offence. 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.

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. To date, the behaviour has been successfully prosecuted under the offence of Outraging Public Decency. Today, the Voyeurism Act comes into effect and I’m so happy. Finally we have a fit-for-purpose law that protects against every instance of upskirting - as we should have always had.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. Understanding how perceptions of safety can be improved, and incidents of harassment and threatening behaviour reduced in public spaces across Cambridgeshire. More + 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

Those who commit such a degrading act will face prison, and victims’ complaints will be dealt with seriously. The new law captures instances where the purpose is to obtain sexual gratification or cause humiliation, distress or alarm.Beyond Equality also provide teacher training to help teachers at the frontline in the fight against gender-based violence and misogyny. FInd out more about what this new law means: read ‘Upskirting’ now a specific crime as bill receives Royal Assent. 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. 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.

A summary conviction will carry a sentence of up to 1 year in prison and/or a fine. And a more serious offence, tried in the Crown Court, would carry a sentence of up to 2 years in prison.That’s why I host sessions on misogyny and the impact of it; why I’m training in facilitation so I can run workshops with young people on masculinities and gender; and why I speak in schools across the UK as well as raise funds for grassroots organisations. There may not be a big, sparkly win, but there will be consistent impact in the form of smaller wins. There may not be headlines about the boys who attended masculinity workshops and grew up respecting people of all genders more, or about the girls who felt seen and used their voices because of activists who created spaces for them, but I’d much rather move forward as that woman than “the upskirting girl”. Even though it’s much less catchy.