Background:

On Jan 16th 2022, an online vigil was held in memory of murdered woman, Ashling Murphy and for the 243 other women who have murdered in Ireland since 1996.

At the night, a man managed to come on to the vigil and expose his genitals for all attendees to see. Not only did he expose himself but he masturbated live on camera.

This was obviously extremely distressing and we were shocked to learn that there are no specific laws around cyberflashing here in Ireland. I have spoken to Gardaí specialising in this area and with legal experts and they agree that while there is legislation in place that it does not go far enough. Legislation is almost always behind the times, especially regarding cyberspace.

In Dec 2020, opposition TDs brought forward an amendment for the Harmful Communications Bill which would have addressed the issue of Cyberflashing. The then Deputy Minister of Justice, Helen McEntee said that this amendment would create too much work for the Gardaí and that an amendment to the Post Office Act 1951 could be used. No amendment has been put forward since.

Read full debate here:  https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/select_committee_on_justice/2020-12-01/3/

While this man can be prosecuted under the Sexual Offences Act, there is no legislation that addresses the specific act of cyberflashing.

Overall, there is a patchwork of offences in Irish law that could be used in some cases of cyberflashing. But there is no clear, straightforward comprehensive law.

Section 45 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 - offensive conduct of a sexual nature - could be used in some cases of cyberflashing. The provision is limited though as it won't cover all types of cases. It's also not the right basis for this form of abuse as it is more focussed on morality and offence, rather than harassment and abuse. 

-Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences 2020

Section 4 has an offence of distributing grossly offensive communications. This is a possibility, but it is also limited. It requires proof of an intention to cause harm and it therefore needs to be shown that the image being sent is 'grossly offensive' which is not always clear. 

Post Office Act 1951

While it might be possible to amend this legislation, again this is not the right basis for a law on cyberflashing and won't be comprehensive. 

Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill
Legislation is also being discussed to regulated internet companies. But these proposals don't include individual criminal offences. 

Comprehensive and straightforward law 

It's really important that any new law is comprehensive and clear, covering all types of cyberflashing. The law should be based on consent, with any sending of genital images without agreement being an offence. 

We are calling on Minister McEntee to put specific legislation around cyberflashing. 

Further reading:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00220183211073644