Young Fine Gael is horrified by the release of thousands of intimate photos of women without any of their consent. We are even more disturbed at a number of vile comments that have been made on social media in relation to the actions of many of the pictured women.
We stand in solidarity with these women, who are victims of a dangerous and sick action. If you think sharing images of anybody without their consent is OK, you are part of this problem.
As Deputy Jennifer Carroll-MacNeill put it yesterday:
“The effect on the victim is one of complete powerlessness, humiliation and indeed of permanency to them and their perception of their reputation. It is an aggressive act and an assault on their person, even if there is no visible scar.”
It is shameful that no current protections can be afforded to these affected victims because of the inexcusable delay of the last Government failing to bring forward to the Harassment, Harmful Communications & Related Offences Bill 2017. Nevertheless, we welcome Minister McEntee’s commitment to ensure that this legislation is passed before the end of this calendar year.
We note that the Bill is scheduled for Committee Stage in Dáil Éireann on 1st December 2020. The proposed Government amendments will, among other things, create two new offences to deal with the non-consensual distribution of intimate images whether or not the images were distributed with intent to cause harm. The sharing of such images without consent will be an offence irrespective of whether or not the person consented to the image being taken.
We encourage any woman who is affected by this horrendous issue to contact the Women’s Aid Helpline on 1800341900.
ENDS