Earlier this month Justice Secretary Chris Grayling announced that revenge pornography – sharing sexually explicit material of former partners without their consent – is to become a criminal offence.
The new legislation, approved by the House of Lords, will be introduced into the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill and the offence will carry a sentence of up to two years.
Now, senior prosecutor, Lord Advocate Frank Mulholland, has called for even tougher laws – with a sentence of up to five years – to be applied in Scotland.
Mr Mulholland has already called for specific legislation to tackle the growing problem and claims that a jail sentence will send a message to the public that such behaviour is not acceptable.
These feelings have been matched by Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokeswoman Alison McInnes, who said: “The House of Lords this week unanimously agreed to amend the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill to make revenge pornography a criminal offence in England and Wales. I am writing to urge the Scottish Government to follow its example and introduce specific legislation to tackle these vile and damaging acts.”
Mr Mulholland told the Scottish Sun: “At the moment we shoehorn this type of offending into existing behaviour. It can be treated as a breach of the peace, and that is unsatisfactory. This is a form of domestic abuse and sexual abuse.
“If Parliament were to decree it as an offence then it could, for example, carry a prison sentence of say five years maximum.”