For too long, too many women have had to put up with cyberflashing, aka the sending of unsolicited d*ck pics. For millions of us, it has become an unwanted part of our everyday lives. There is currently no legislation regarding cyberflashing – it is not a criminal act and the women who are targeted have little control over the content they receive, making them feel unsafe and vulnerable in their own homes.

Cyberflashing has become increasingly common across social media platforms, dating apps and even via Airdrop, with YouGov research finding that close to half of female millennials (46%) say they have been sent a photo of a penis, with women being more likely to have received one the younger they are (53% of 18-24 year olds compared to 36% of 31-36 year olds). Of those women who have ever been sent a dick pic, nine in ten (89%) have received one without having asked for it, meaning that 41% of all millennial women have been sent an unsolicited photo of a man's genitals. This issue is now spreading in schools. A 2021 Ofsted report found that nine in 10 girls at school have been sent unwanted explicit pictures.

Enough is enough: it’s time for cyberflashing to be taken seriously. Grazia, along with actress Emily Atack, are calling for cyberflashing to be made illegal under the Online Safety Bill, due to be published later this year. 

Emily has been the target of countless unsolicited dick pics via her social media accounts. She says, ‘This is a sexual harassment blind spot that’s being ignored and tolerated. It's a new form of harassment. The boundaries have been obliterated.’

This petition calls for the criminalisation of cyberflashing, and with the Online Harms Bill due to be published later this year, we have an opportunity to change things NOW.