Technology continues to evolve, faster than our laws can keep up. Over the last few years, there have been increased concerns regarding the artificial intelligence known as 'Deep Fakes'.

Deep Fakes is the term used to describe taking the face of someone and placing it in any image or video of choosing. Simply, you only need a picture of the individuals face. Surprisingly, some of these videos can look incredibly real.

We have seen this in free apps such as 'Reface' which can be immediately downloaded to your phone. Such apps allow you to put your face on your favourite film character or make a still picture of you, or even have you sing or move.  For many this is humorous, to be a character in your favourite music video or film. We have all seen such videos on our friends or family’s social media accounts, where they have turned themselves into a Christmas character or A-List celebrity video.

However, there is a much sinister and disturbing side to this technology. Anyone can create such videos using your image without your consent. This can then be uploaded to the internet immediately. Concerns regarding deep fakes include conflicting political statements, blackmail and fraud. Barack Obama’s voice has been used in such videos as well as videos using Donald Trump’s face.

Statistics featured in the Huffington Post article note such videos are increasingly pornographic in nature, with 96% of deep fake clips featuring an image replacing that of a porn actor. During 2019, statistics found the number of videos online doubled in a year and of the 85,000 circulating online, 90 per cent are non-consensual porn featuring women and many included images/ or videos engaging in extreme acts of sexual violence.

As noted above, this has included photographs of celebrities, politicians and regular individuals. Taylor Swift, Maisie Williams, Emma Watson, Michelle Obama, Meghan Markle, Boris Johnson and Mark Zuckerberg include just a few that have been victims of deep fakes technology.

Just using one example, in 2017, a Reddit user made deep fake videos of ‘Maisie Williams’ and ‘Taylor Swift’ having sex. Within 8 weeks, it had 90,000 subscribers.

Clearly the impact to victims can be significant both emotionally and financially if this impacts the victims career.  There can be huge embarrassment to the victim if this is widely shown with friends, family and/or work colleagues, especially if the viewer does not realise the imagery is a fake.

As with revenge porn, there are a number of concerns including; who posted the content, proving they didn’t consent to this and having this removed from the site (or perhaps multiple sites).

Many social media platforms including Pornhub, Facebook and Twitter have tried to ban them after public pressure. There are two new pieces of legislation, the EU’s Digital Services Act and the UK’s proposed Online Harms bill, which will hold platforms responsible for the content they host. However, this offers little support to the victim.

In the UK, you can be prosecuted for harassment for making and distributing such images/videos. In May 2018, a 25-year-old male was jailed for 16 weeks and ordered to pay £5,000 in compensation for photoshopping pictures of a female intern to porn websites

A campaign has been started called #MyImageMyChoice, calling for legal changes worldwide pushing for a global human rights solution to the problem by the Government creating world-leading intimate image abuse laws.  This is to focus on the violation of privacy and require an online consent for such imaginary to be placed online.

At the start of March, the UK Law Commission published a consultation paper with testimonies from #MyImageMyChoice. It will therefore be a matter of time before we see what changes, regulations and further protective measures are put in place.

If you believe you are a victim of deep fakes, contact the website administrators requesting this is removed without delay. You may also wish to report this

In this podcast we discuss the recently published 'Nature of sexual assault by rape or penetration, England and Wales: year ending March 2020'.The report from the Office for National Statistics is concerned with: Information from the Crime Survey for England and Wales on the amount, type and nature of sexual assault by rape or penetration (including attempts) experienced since the age of 16 years.

 

It provides a very comprehensive picture of sexual offending as it more-or-less is now. Information was collected from the general public and following analysis there are some stark headlines which warrant further consideration:

One in 40 women aged between 16 and 24 in England and Wales experience rape or assault by penetration, including attempts, each year, ONS estimates suggest.

Overall, 0.1% of men and 0.8% of women aged over 16 said they were victims of these crimes in the year to March 2020.

Some 773,000 adults aged 16 to 74 said they were victims of any type of sexual assault during the same period.

There were almost four times as many female victims of sexual assault as men, at 618,000, compared to 155,000.

Non-reporting and reporting to the police

Sexual offences are as the ONS noted often hidden crimes that are not reported to the police. The reasons for non-reporting  are often based in fear, shame, blackmail, and  a lack of appreciation that a complaint will be taken seriously by the authorities.

Therefore, data held by the police can only provide a partial picture of the actual level of crime experienced. One of the strengths of the Crime Survey for England and Wales is that it covers many crimes that are not reported to the police.

The year ending March 2020 Crime Survey for England and Wales estimated that 1.6 million adults aged 16 to 74 years had experienced sexual assault by rape or penetration (including attempts) since the age of 16 years.

Of victims who experienced sexual assault by rape or penetration (including attempts) since the age of 16 years:

almost half (49%) had been a victim more than once.

fewer than one in six (16%) reported the assault to the police and of those that told someone but not the police, 40% stated embarrassment as a reason, 38% did not think the police could help, and 34% thought it would be humiliating.

Victims who did tell the police did so primarily to prevent it happening to others (47%), although, believing it to be the right thing to do (44%) and wanting the perpetrator(s) punished (43%) were similarly common.

As victim age increased, so did the number of victims telling the police: just 10% of 16- to 19-year-olds reported the assault to the police, compared with 27% of 35- to 44-year-olds).

showed that the majority (69%) of victims told someone about the sexual assault by rape or penetration they had experienced since the age of 16 years. Victims were most likely to tell someone they knew personally (60%)

victims were equally as likely to tell someone in an official position (28%) as another support professional or organisation (29%) about the assault experienced.

Age and sex

In the years ending March 2017 and March 2020 combined, the majority of victims who had experienced rape or assault by penetration since they were 16 years old reported that the perpetrator(s) were male (98%). Almost two-thirds (65%) reported that the perpetrator was a male aged between 20 and 39 years.

Victims who experienced sexual assault by rape or penetration since the age of 16 years were most likely to be victimised by their partner or ex-partner (44%). This was closely followed by someone who was known to them other than a partner or family member (37%), which includes friends (12%) and dates (10%)

Where does the offending occur?

The most common location for rape or assault by penetration to occur was in the victim’s home (37%), followed by the perpetrator’s home (26%). The assault had taken place in a park, other open public space, car park or on the street for 9% of victims.

Almost ha

We recently discussed abuse in schools, specifically public boarding schools. We looked at how cases of sexual and physical abuse were still coming to light against teachers or staff despite more stringent safeguarding measures being introduced. We discussed liability and actions available to victims.

However, in the last few weeks more and more reports have started to surface regarding abuse of pupils by other pupils in schools, in what has concerningly become dubbed ‘the rape culture’.

Westminster School hit the headlines when ex pupils compiled a 21 page dossier of rape culture claims. The claims document how female pupils were harassed and abused on a daily basis, having been forced to perform sex acts on male pupils. Further allegations included teachers buying a sex toy for a pupil. A number of other disturbing allegations included projecting images of female pupils on the whiteboard and asking teachers if they would “smash or not”.

Victims disclosed how alcohol was used to intoxicate students by other students to enable them to rape them. Other allegations including having trousers pulled down in front of others, groping, harassment and rape. Younger pupils were deemed “fresh meat” by older pupils and sixth formers.

Highgate School has commissioned an immediate external review after a number of pupils walked out of the school, after allegations that the rape culture was tolerated by staff. The school has been criticised for not investigating or acting on allegations of abuse.

Dulwich school pupils planned a protest march which was cancelled due to the current COVID-19 pandemic following a report in The Times of over 100 accounts of sexual abuse at the school.

A number of other schools have also been linked to similar allegations including St Pauls; Eton; and Latymer Upper School. Many of the named schools have now commenced internal investigations.

England’s children commissioner, Rachel de Souza, has now stated that serious claims of sexual violence and harassment in schools must be reported to police in a response. Ofsted have also confirmed they will look to investigate. Maybe if mandatory reporting was in place such a call would not be necessary?

An online campaign called 'Everyone's Invited' has now also been set up to encourage users to post anonymous testimonies of the abuse they have suffered at school.

All schools are expected to have sufficient safeguarding procedures to prevent abuse. If a school employee (such as a teacher) has committed abuse, it is possible to make a civil claim against the individual’s employer on the basis of vicarious liability if it can be established that the abuse occurred during the course of employment or in a relationship akin to employment.

When abuse is committed by another pupil this becomes more complicated, especially if they are also a minor. Whether a successful claim could be brought against the school would depend on the facts of the individual case. If the school had been informed of complaints of ongoing sexual abuse/or witnessed this and failed to step in/prevent such, the school in question may be deemed liable in a civil claim.

The following organisations are available to contact for support:

Victim Support Line: Offering emotional and practical support for anyone who has been a victim of crime. Telephone: 0808 1689 111 victimsupport.org.uk

Rape Crisis: Services for women and girls who have been raped or have experienced sexual violence - 0808 802 9999 www.rapecrisis.org.uk 

Survivors UK: Offers support for men and boys - 0203 598 3898 www.survivorsuk.org 

NSPCC: [email protected] 0808 800 5000

Child Line: www.childline.org.uk/0800 1111

NAPAC: Offers support to adult survivors of all types of childhood abuse. www.napac.org.uk 

We encourage anyone who has concerns about sexual abuse to get in touch. You can contact Alan Collins or Danielle Vincent.

Recently, the Hugh James Abuse team discussed the surge in popularity of websites such as OnlyFans and Pornhub. We have also discussed the law in relation to revenge porn and the campaign ‘The Naked Threat’ in relation to threats to share intimate images.

Sadly, with the increase in popularity of pornographic websites where anyone can upload images immediately with little background checks, more and more individuals are having images shared online without their consent. The question remains, are those participating in videos or images consenting to the same being shared online? Are the laws in that country or state being broken? Sadly, some victims will never know their private images have been shared for millions to see. There has also been much concern in relation to both sex trafficking and the uploading of child abuse pornography.

In recent weeks, another female in the public eye, Georgia Harrison star from The Only Way is Essex and Love Island disclosed that her former boyfriend had posted a video of them having sexual intercourse online to OnlyFans, filmed without her knowledge and shared without her consent. She documented the difficulties she had when she contacted the OnlyFans site to have these images of her removed.

Following this, people began to circulate the video on social media and Whatsapp. A number of newspapers and magazines highlighted why these images should not continue to be shared and the legal implications to those doing so.

OnlyFans did remove the post and suspended the account it came from after an initial delay following significant public scrutiny. However, this begs the question, how many individuals are featured on this site without consent or knowledge? Once again this highlights the lack of background due diligence checks these companies complete when uploading new material. We will see in the coming weeks what changes OnlyFans will make and whether the person who did upload the images in question will face criminal prosecution. At the time of writing, the press has reported the individual has been charged with harassment, exposure and voyeurism.  

Pornhub has over 3.5 billion visits each month. On 12 December 2020, the Company deleted over 10 million videos following a backlash over illegal and depraved content. There were 13 million videos prior to this, which shows the grand scale of the removal.

The move finally came following an investigation by the New York Times, which revealed a large number of the site's porn videos featured underaged and sex-trafficked people.  

The report also found Facebook removed 12.4 million images related to child exploitation in a three-month period. Twitter closed 264,000 accounts in six months for engaging in sexual exploitation of children. By contrast, Pornhub notes that the Internet Watch Foundation, an England-based non-profit that combats child sexual abuse imagery, reported only 118 instances of child sexual abuse imagery on its site over almost three years, Pornhub said “Eliminating illegal content is an ongoing battle for every modern content platform, and we are committed to remaining at the forefront,” The full report can be found here.

Cosmopolitan reported on concerns regarding videos of genuine rapes and sexual assaults being posted.  The publication said “We must consider the ongoing impact for the victims and also whether disclosing such images online begins to normalise sexual abuse to the viewer.” At the time, a spokesperson for Pornhub said “Videos with these titles are more often legal, consensual videos catering to various user fantasies”. 

Pornhub has largely been criticised for allowing videos to remain up without verifying that the participants consent to these images being shared online which is the common concern with OnlyFans. Although a minority of those sharing images without consent may have been punished within the criminal legal system, Pornhub largely remained unaccountable.

Both major sponsors Visa and Mastercard h

In the last two weeks, we have seen the saddening news of another murder of a young woman in London. What followed was a huge police search using CCTV footage. It highlights once again, how unsafe our streets can be.

In today’s podcast, we talk to Nick Gazzard who founded the 'Hollie Gazzard Trust' following his daughters death. This podcast was pre-recorded before the saddening death of Sarah Everard.

Hollie Gazzard was murdered in 2014 outside her place of work by an ex-boyfriend at just 20 years old. Sadly, she had reported her concerns to the police two days before her death. Nick details in the podcast the controlling behaviour her ex-boyfriend displayed in the run up to her death.

The Hollie Gazzard Trust was subsequently set up by her family to deliver programmes on domestic abuse and promoting healthy relationships in schools and colleges. A further aim is to raise awareness of stalking. In addition, the charity also funds hairdressing training for individuals.

The charity also aims to tackle knife crime and anti-social behaviour, having funded several initiatives delivering workshops in schools and youth organisations.

The charity has also developed a fantastic app called 'Hollie Guard'.

The app allows the user to set up emergency contacts and is activated by the user, for example when walking home at night, so emergency contacts can see the users location. The app allows the user to set up numerous contacts who get a text alert if the user is in trouble, which is sent when the user shakes their phone. When activated, the phone will also begin to film and record audio. The footage is then saved in the cloud, therefore, even if the phone is stolen, the data will be kept.

The app also has a 24/7 monitoring service which provides direct access to a dedicated emergency response team who are fully equipped to assess your situation and are trained in appropriate escalation procedures.

During the podcast, Nick discusses some of the success stories that have already come from the use of the app.

More information on the app and Holly Gazzard Trust can be found here.

There are also a number of fantastic guides on the website for friends and family including workshops for the workplace.

We encourage anyone who has concerns about sexual abuse to get in touch. You can contact Alan Collins or Danielle Vincent.

This week we talk to podcast guest Janitta Nichols, author and public speaker, highlighting the trauma and lasting impact of abuse on family generations.

We discuss Janitta’s childhood and how her behaviour was shaped following the sexual and physical abuse she suffered from the age of 6, for many years. By the age of 16, Janitta had suffered over 300 sexual encounters by several men in her family, primarily her stepfather.

Janitta discusses how the abuse made her question her identity and how she turned to drugs, gangs, and violence during her teenage years. She also discusses the impact on her own relationships with partners.

Janitta subsequently started her career as a police officer and continued to witness abuse in the families she was seeing. Janitta was frustrated that in such short periods of time, she was unable to help individuals further or make further change. She was often left wondering what happened to the individuals she encountered through her job and whether they want on to seek or find help.

In the podcast, Janitta discusses her ongoing struggle in adulthood to process what had happened to her which cumulated in her wanting to commit suicide and the impact this was also having on her relationship and children.

Janitta discusses how she had struggled with therapy previously. She tells us how she made changes in her life and began to write her story, resurfacing memories she had pushed to the back of her mind for decades which became therapeutic. Janitta talks about the process she went through and the changes she saw in herself from this. This assisted her to find the strength to speak out and her ongoing journey towards healing.

In our discussion, Janitta confirms how she discovered both her mother and grandmother were also abused and how this impacted her.  

Janitta has now released novel "Secrets of My Mother”, which is the story of a brave teenager who risks it all to her save her family from their abusive stepfather. The novel focuses on manipulation and control in the family environment.

You can find out more about Janitta here.

If you are concerned about abuse you may be suffering or wish to discuss this and are under 18 your can contact Childline on 0800 1111. The Survivors Trust also provides support for sexual abuse victims.

We encourage anyone who has concerns about sexual abuse to get in touch. You can contact Alan Collins or Danielle Vincent.

Over the years we have heard many accounts of children being abused in the Education sector. By now, it would be hoped that lessons had been learnt and sufficient safeguarding procedures would have been put in place to prevent history repeating itself.

It must be pointed out that abuse in a school environment could include any staff member, teacher or even a pupil.  Abuse takes place in all types of schools including public, state, faith and special schools. Abuse can include physical, emotional or sexual and can be committed by both male and female perpetrators.

Public boarding schools take the focus of this blog. Here, many children are away from home from potentially a very young age, placed in the trusted hands of the school for long periods of time, monitored by adults who are deemed safe and responsible to look after them.

In November 2020, former teacher Matthew Mowbray from Eton College hit the headlines when he was charged with sexually assaulting three boys. Eton is a prestigious public school with formal pupils such as Prince William and Prince Harry, Hugh Laurie and David Cameron, to name just a few.

Mowbray was dismissed from Eton after his arrest in May 2019. He appeared at Slough Magistrates' Court in November 2020 charged with offences including sexual assault, voyeurism and taking indecent photographs.

The abuse period is understood to stem over 10 years. Mowbray would visit the students late at night when they were in bed. The abuse only came to light when another pupil told a housemaster what he had seen. Mowbray pleaded guilty to eight offences of the eighteen brought against him. In December 2020, Mowbray was found guilty of eight charges and was sentenced to five years imprisonment.

At the time of writing this blog, Clifton College in Bristol also issued a public apology after a former teacher was jailed for taking indecent images of pupils in 2015.

Sadly, yet again this is another school to add to the list where sexual abuse has been disclosed. In 2018, ITV broadcast documentary ‘Boarding Schools: The Secret Shame’ which revealed the true extent of abuse in UK’s boarding schools.

Journalist and presenter, Alex Renton, was sexually abused as a young boy by his teacher, Mr Keane, at one of the country’s top boarding schools, Ashdown House in East Sussex. The broadcast investigated some of the private schools where paedophiles groomed and assaulted young boarders repeatedly, sometimes over decades.

Schools which featured in the broadcast included;

Sherborne Preparatory School where headteacher Robin Lindsay abused pupils over three decades between 1970s -1990s

Loughton School Herefordshire where headmaster David Panter abused pupils

St Aubyns East Sussex where teacher George Pilgram abused pupils

In preparation for the documentary, ITV’s Exposure made Freedom of Information requests to every police force in the UK and 24 responded. The results from 2018 showed:

Since 2012, 425 people have been accused of carrying out sexual attacks at UK boarding schools

At the time there were at least 31 ongoing investigations.

The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA) are finalising a report into the exploitation of children in residential schools. A public hearing on the second phase of the investigation took place in November 2020. The investigation is to explore how children and other agencies respond to allegations of sexual abuse by school staff and address broader questions of school culture governance, leadership, training and recruitment.

IICSA has an Inquiry Information Line you can contact on 0800 917 1000.

In December 2020, drama ‘A Teacher’ was released on BBC iPlayer. The drama played out the sexual relationship of a female teacher and male pupil. The 10-part series explored the significant impact on the pupil in later life and how it impacted his studies, relationships, and friendships. Importantly it focused on how the pupil did not realise he had been abused until years later. It

In this episode of HJ Talks About Abuse, Alan Collins and Feleena Grosvenor discuss the proposed new criminal offence of “non-fatal strangulation”.

The offence was campaigned to be added to the Domestic Abuse Bill, as campaigned heavily by Baroness Newlove, but it appears instead it will be made a new offence under a police and sentencing bill in February 2021. Justice Secretary, Robert Buckland has been vocal regarding the Government support for this proposal.

Studies indicate that around 3% to 10% of the adult population have been subjected to strangulation, but the figure rises to 50-68% for victims of recurring abuse. Two studies of intimate partner violence and sexual assaults found that strangulation was involved in 20% and 23% of cases.

It is frequently used by domestic abuse perpetrators to control their partner with people who are subjected to it being seven times likelier to be killed by their partner. It is also the second most common cause of death for women as a result of domestic violence, after stabbing.

The Crown Prosecution Service currently charge perpetrators of strangulation under common assault. It may also be considered as an offence under the 2015 Serious Crime Act as coercive or controlling behaviour. The Government’s has, therefore, had the view that the proposed new offence is unnecessary.

However, significant campaigning has led to a change in the government stance. The Victim’s Commissioner and the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, for example, have voiced their support for the proposal.

It is argued that using the existing legislation of common assault minimises the seriousness of the crime and allows for perpetrators to receive a light sentence if charged at all. Common assault is a summary only offence that can be charged by police, whereas when domestic abuse is involved the matter should be referred to the Crown Prosecution Service. The new offence is proposed to have a sentencing range of up to seven years in prison.

Furthermore, having an appropriately named offence will also raise awareness of the risk and suffering that strangulation involves.

References:

Commissioners endorse non-fatal strangulation amendment to the Domestic Abuse Bill – Victims Commissioner

Strangling: Calls for a new non-fatal strangulation offence - BBC News

In this episode of The HJ Talks About Abuse Podcast, Alan Collins and Feleena Grosvenor discuss Pakistan’s new anti-rape measure.

At the end of 2020, a terrible crime was committed in Pakistan. A woman was gang-raped in front of her children after her car broke down on a motorway in Lahore. The woman had called the police when she ran out of fuel, but the incident occurred before she received any assistance. This occurred just days after a kidnapping, rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in Karachi.

These crimes prompted outrage and protests in Pakistan, but this was fuelled further by the police appearing to victim blame by criticising the woman for travelling alone, late at night, without enough fuel and not on a safer highway.

Legislation was proposed by the Prime Minister, Imran Khan and his cabinet, and in December 2020 the President signed it into law. Within the next couple of months, the Government will get the measure approved by Parliament and have it permanently passed into law.

The legislation provides far tougher anti-rape rules than previously seen in Pakistan. It includes the establishment of special courts that must conclude trials of alleged rapists and issue verdicts within four months. It also prohibits the disclosure of the identity of rape victims and will create a national sex offenders’ register. Rape crisis cells will also be established to ensure victims undergo a specialist medical examination within six hours of reporting the incident. Officers who are found to be negligent in investigating rape cases could face a three-year prison sentence.

One key criticism of the legislation, however, is that it allows for the chemical castration of serial rapists. Amnesty International have stated that “forced chemical castrations would violate Pakistan’s international and constitutional obligations to prohibit torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. Punishments like this will do nothing to fix a flawed criminal justice system.”

The legislation importantly reflects the protests and outcries of the citizens in Pakistan and is an important step forward to improving the amount of sexual violence that occurs in Pakistan.

More information can be found in the articles below:

Pakistan anti-rape ordinance signed into law by president - BBC News

Pakistan approves tough anti-rape law amid outcry over victim blaming | Pakistan | The Guardian

Backlash in Pakistan as police appear to blame woman for gang rape | Rape and sexual assault | The Guardian

We encourage anyone who has concerns relating to this subject, or about abuse in general, to get in touch with Alan Collins or Feleena Grosvenor.

In this episode of the HJ Talks About Abuse podcast, Alan Collins and Feleena Grosvenor explore the recent coverage regarding the statistics relating to sexual abuse and harassment taking place in Universities in England and Wales every year.

It is estimated that there are 50,000 incidents of sexual abuse or harassment in universities every year. The figure, however, could be much higher as there has not been appropriate research and surveys into this subject in the UK.

A recent book has been published called “Unsafe Spaces: Ending Sexual Abuse in Universities”. It addresses the extent of abuse and is critical of universities for failing their students and staff. The book states that the majority of universities seek to conceal the extent of the sexual misconduct instead of focusing on care and prevention.

It appears that university policies are not well created or well implemented. Often there is no specialist person to develop these policies or to advise how to best support victims. Many universities actually use volunteers in this area.

Some changes are starting to be made. For example, St Andrews University have in the last month launched a new website to report abuse and discrimination. Universities UK (UUK) which speaks for 140 universities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, said it would be publishing guidance and recommendations on managing staff on student misconduct later this year.

We will eagerly wait to see what proposals are made, and trust that openness and the safety and welfare of everyone on campus will be the top priority for university management.

We encourage anyone who has concerns relating to this subject, or about abuse in general, to get in touch with Alan Collins or Feleena Grosvenor.

Sexual abuse at English and Welsh universities 'a public scandal' – study | Universities | The Guardian