{"id":141895,"date":"2018-06-16T03:17:51","date_gmt":"2018-06-16T03:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/upskirting-law-to-be-passed-soon-says-theresa-may\/"},"modified":"2018-06-16T03:17:51","modified_gmt":"2018-06-16T03:17:51","slug":"upskirting-law-to-be-passed-soon-says-theresa-may","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/english\/upskirting-law-to-be-passed-soon-says-theresa-may\/","title":{"rendered":"Upskirting law to be passed soon, says Theresa May"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"TheresaImage copyright Reuters <\/figure>\n

Theresa May says she wants to see a bill that will make upskirting a criminal offence pass through Parliament "soon" - after one of her own MPs blocked it.<\/p>\n

Sir Christopher Chope has faced criticism from his own party for objecting to the private member's bill.<\/p>\n

If passed, someone who takes a photo under a victim's skirt in England and Wales could face two years in prison.<\/p>\n

The PM said she was "disappointed" the bill had failed to progress.<\/p>\n

Ministers have criticised Sir Christopher's objection, with Justice Secretary David Gauke tweeting his disappointment.<\/p>\n

But his backbench colleagues have gone further - Tory MP Nick Boles tweeted that Sir Christopher was a politician "whose knuckles dragged along the ground".<\/p>\n

And George Freeman, who used to lead Theresa May's policy unit, said the move was "an affront to parliamentary democracy".<\/p>\n

Minister for Women Victoria Atkins said the government will allocate time for the bill in Parliament to ensure it does not get pushed down the list of private members' bills.<\/p>\n

Image copyright Gina Martin
Image caption Gina Martin started the campaign after two men took a picture up her skirt but weren't prosecuted for it <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sir Christopher has yet to speak out about his intervention, but upskirting victim Gina Martin - who started the campaign for the new law - said he told her he objected "on principle" because it "wasn't debated".<\/p>\n

She told the BBC he said he "wasn't really sure" what upskirting was. "I said, 'well, I can help you with that'," Ms Martin added. <\/p>\n

The bill was expected to sail through the Commons on Friday, but parliamentary rules mean it only required one MP to shout "object" to block its progress. <\/p>\n

Sir Christopher's intervention was met with shouts of "shame" from other MPs.<\/p>\n

Media playback is unsupported on your device
Media captionHear MPs shout "shame" after Sir Christopher objects to the bill<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse, who brought the private member's bill to Parliament, also criticised the "out-of-touch Tory" for "sabotaging" it. <\/p>\n

She has asked for her bill to return to the House on 6 July. <\/p>\n

Media playback is unsupported on your device
Media captionWera Hobhouse 'angry' after Tory MP blocks upskirting law<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Dawn Butler, Labour's shadow minister for women and equalities, said it was "absolutely disgusting" that the bill had been blocked.<\/p>\n

Justice minister Lucy Frazer said the government was "committed to making sure upskirting becomes a criminal offence and have every expectation that this will happen". <\/p>\n

So why did Sir Christopher object? <\/h2>\n

By Mark D'Arcy, BBC parliamentary correspondent<\/strong><\/p>\n

Image copyright PA
Image caption Sir Christopher shouted "object" to the bill, stopping it from progressing through the Commons <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sir Christopher is a leading member of a group of backbench Conservatives who make a practice of ensuring that what they see as well-meaning but flabby legislation is not lazily plopped on to the statute book by a few MPs on a poorly-attended Friday sitting. <\/p>\n

And - after all - this is a bill to create a new criminal offence, for which people can go to jail. <\/p>\n

So, however worthy the cause, he insists on proper, extensive scrutiny, and he has spent most Commons Fridays for the last 20 years doing just that. <\/p>\n

    \n
  • 'Upskirting': It happened to me <\/li>\n
  • Live Nation exec filmed up women's skirts<\/li>\n
  • Speaker calls for private members' bills rethink<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Ms Martin said she remained "hopeful" and had arranged a meeting to discuss it with Sir Christopher. <\/p>\n

    She started the campaign to change the law after two men took a picture up her skirt while she was at a concert in London's Hyde Park last July. <\/p>\n

    Police said they were unable to prosecute as the picture was not graphic enough because she was wearing underwear.<\/p>\n

    Media playback is unsupported on your device
    Media caption"He was laughing": Three women tell the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire about their experience of upskirting<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    What is the current law?<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    • There is no law specifically naming and banning upskirting in England and Wales - victims and police are currently only able to pursue offences of outraging public decency or as a crime of voyeurism<\/li>\n
    • Upskirting has been an offence in Scotland since 2010 when it was listed under the broadened definition of voyeurism<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      What are the limitations of the current situation in England and Wales?<\/strong><\/p>\n

        \n
      • Voyeurism only applies to filming actions taking place in private<\/li>\n
      • Outraging public decency usually requires someone to have witnessed the action but upskirting is often unobserved<\/li>\n
      • Unlike other sexual offences, people don't have automatic right to anonymity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

        What does the new law propose?<\/strong><\/p>\n

          \n
        • As well as carrying a maximum two-year sentence, it would also allow, in the most serious cases, those convicted to be placed on the sex offenders register<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

          The best way to get news on the go
          Download the BBC News App. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Image copyright Reuters Theresa May says she wants to see a bill that will make upskirting a criminal offence pass through Parliament "soon" - after one of her own MPs<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":141896,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/freeonlinetranslators.net\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}