Victims and Courts Bill

Kirith Entwistle Excerpts

2nd reading
Tuesday 20th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Kirith Entwistle (Bolton North East) (Lab)]

I declare an interest, as a member of the Women and Equalities Committee.

Today marks a defining moment—a moment when we finally put victims at the heart of our justice system. For countless people in Bolton, that moment is long overdue. I am proud to support the Bill: proud because it empowers judges to compel offenders to attend their sentencing so that no victim is left speaking into a void; proud because it finally—finally!—removes parental rights from child sex offenders, something that I can hardly believe we are doing only now, in 2025; proud because it gives real power to the Victims’ Commissioner to demand answers, scrutinise the system and drive change; and proud because it will speed up justice and tear down needless barriers. Survivors deserve a system that works for them, not against them.

From conversations on doorsteps and from constituency surgeries, I know that far too many of my constituents have experienced domestic abuse and coercive control. That is why I have been working with those at Bolton’s frontline organisations, including Fortalice and Endeavour, who understand what is at stake and the difference that the Bill will make. Fortalice provides refuge and support for domestic abuse survivors. Its chief executive, Gill Smallwood, told me that it had received more than 400 referrals since January alone, and that the Bill would finally deliver the change that victims need. Gill told me that, right now, victims are left in the dark about bail conditions or release dates. The Bill will change that: it will allow victims, finally, to be kept informed by enabling them to nominate a trusted professional to receive updates, and to access information through a dedicated helpline.

Endeavour, another local charity, supports high-risk young people, black and minoritised survivors, and older victims. Its chief executive, Jill Caldwell, told me of a woman who had had to flee her home, job and support network, simply because she had not been told that her abuser had been released. The Bill would have prevented that. By guaranteeing victims the right to up-to-date information, we are ending uncertainty and removing the burden on victims to constantly chase, ask, call and email for updates. We are saying, “You deserve to know; you deserve to be safe; you deserve to be heard and to be reassured at a time of complete uncertainty, when you have already endured so much.”

The Bill is ambitious, but my constituents in Bolton need it to go further. Right now, 82% of domestic abuse victims never report the abuse, not because nothing happened but because they fear they will not be believed, and for those who do, the courtroom can become a second site of trauma. Time and again, constituents have told me about the misuse of “bad character” evidence, when a survivor’s past is wilfully distorted to discredit that person. That is not justice; it is re-victimisation. The Bill must change evidence standards so that no survivor’s trauma is ever twisted into testimony against them.

The Bill also gives us a long overdue chance to fix the way in which domestic abuse is handled in the family court system. I urge the ministerial team to go further, and to strengthen protections for the children of abusers. Survivors in my constituency are still forced into contact with abusers who intentionally exploit the legal process to maintain control. We know that the family court system was not built to withstand this kind of manipulation, and that abusers have learnt exactly how to weaponise that—and win. The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service—CAFCASS—relies on outdated, prejudiced views of what a family should look like, prioritising contact with both parents even when one has a proven history of domestic abuse. This antiquated policy prioritises the family unit over the child’s best interests, even when the cost is the child’s trust, stability and wellbeing, so the Bill must go further.

Finally, the Bill can end a quiet injustice: the punishing of women simply for surviving abuse.

I am proud that this Labour Government are putting power back into the hands of victims, and I fully support the Bill.

Tackling Image-based Abuse

Kirith Entwistle Excerpts

Tuesday 12th November 2024 Westminster Hall

[Kirith Entwistle (Bolton North East) (Lab)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the matter of tackling image-based abuse.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Vickers. I declare an interest as a member of the Women and Equalities Committee. I am bringing this motion before the House to maintain the steady pressure from campaigners and parliamentarians on an issue that is both urgent and often neglected: image-based sexual abuse, which is a form of violence that overwhelmingly affects women and girls.

Today, I aim to shed light on where our legislation on image-based sexual abuse is falling short and to propose three reforms that this Labour Government can deliver. This will build on the fine work conducted by Members across the House—including the Minister for safeguarding and violence against women and girls, my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham Yardley (Jess Phillips); Madam Deputy Speaker, the right hon. Member for Romsey and Southampton North (Caroline Nokes); the hon. Member for Gosport (Dame Caroline Dinenage) and current and previous members of the Women and Equalities Committee—as well as Members of the other place.

Image-based sexual abuse encompasses a wide range of violations, from digitally altered images such as deepfakes to invasive acts such as upskirting, downblousing and so-called revenge porn. In an increasingly digital world, this abuse—this violence—is an escalating crisis.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I commend the hon. Lady. This is a massive issue in my constituency, and that is why we are all here to support her. The Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland has revealed that 96% of deepfakes surveyed online were non-consensual pornographic materials, and 70% of targets were private individuals’ photos that had been harvested from social media. Does she agree that more must be done in schools to make young people aware of the dangers and risks that come with sharing private content online?

[Kirith Entwistle]

Yes, that is an important point. It goes to show the extent and the seriousness of the issue.

Drawing on two powerful accounts that have profoundly shaped my own perspective, I will highlight the three glaring flaws that we must confront. The first is the failure to ensure the permanent removal of abusive content, which leaves survivors chained to their trauma. The second is the weak regulatory enforcement that allows platforms to shrug off their responsibilities. The third is the lack of civil remedies for survivors, a lifeline that we know to be critical to restoring dignity, control and hope.

I will not have the space today to discuss how we can prevent online violence against women and girls by embedding it into the relationships, sex and health education curriculum, to which the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) alluded, or how proceeds from the digital services tax and Ofcom fines could sustainably fund lifesaving support services for victims. However, those issues loom large in the debate.

I am grateful that the Minister for victims, my hon. Friend the Member for Pontypridd (Alex Davies-Jones), is present. I look forward to hearing how tackling image-based abuse aligns with this Government’s unprecedented commitment to halving violence against women and girls. I also hope to hear from the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology on these issues. In the UK, we face an escalating crisis of image-based sexual abuse. Every week, new victims emerge and women and girls lose their right to control their most intimate images.

[Luke Myer (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

So many young women are having their life destroyed by the proliferation of deepfakes and AI-enabled images. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Bill introduced by Baroness Owen—the Non-Consensual Sexually Explicit Images and Videos (Offences) Bill—would go some way towards addressing the issue, and that the Government should look favourably on it?

[Kirith Entwistle]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. I will come on to that important Bill. I know that Baroness Owen has already done a great deal of work on the issue.

In 2023 alone, the Revenge Porn Helpline reported nearly 19,000 cases of abuse, a staggering increase from just 1,600 cases in 2019. Deepfake-related abuse has surged by 400% since 2017, with over 99% of these vile creations targeting women and girls. The numbers are shocking, but they are more than statistics. Behind each one is a life and a human story—another innocent person whose confidence, relationships and sense of safety is shattered. Survivors often describe their experience as digital rape, a term that captures the intensely personal and profoundly scarring nature of this violation.

Just two weeks ago, the escalating crisis hit home in my constituency of Bolton North East with the case of Hugh Nelson, who was sentenced at Bolton Crown court to 18 years in prison for creating and distributing depraved sexual images using artificial intelligence. Detective Chief Inspector Jen Tattersall of Greater Manchester police described Nelson as

“an extremely dangerous man who thought he could get away with what he was doing by using modern technology.”

Yet Nelson’s sentencing is something of an exception. Too many perpetrators remain beyond the reach of justice, shielded by gaps in our legal framework. This reality raises a question: has our response truly kept pace with the escalating scale of this crisis? Are we really doing all we can to support victims and survivors?

[Jo Platt (Leigh and Atherton) (Lab/Co-op)]

My hon. Friend is making an excellent case on this important subject. I was deeply shocked to learn from Refuge that, in some cases, reports of intimate image abuse are not being taken seriously by the police force. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is essential for police officers to receive consistent, comprehensive training on internet image abuse so that they understand how the law can further protect women and girls?

[Kirith Entwistle]

Yes, training would be exceptionally valuable in combating the issue. I look forward to hearing what the Minister has to say.

--- Later in debate ---

[Rachel Taylor]

My apologies, Mr Vickers.

[Kirith Entwistle]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. We should absolutely be putting victims at the heart of any legislation on this topic.

I do not believe that in their 14 years the previous Government did anywhere near enough to tackle the issue. I can already see the Labour Government taking decisive steps to change the answer to the question of whether we are doing enough. I welcome the Government’s manifesto commitment to ban the creation of sexually explicit deepfakes, an essential step in safeguarding women and girls from malicious technology. I am encouraged by the collaborative work under way among the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, the Home Office and the Ministry of Justice to identify a legislative vehicle to ensure that those who create these images without consent are held accountable. I am also pleased that new changes to the Online Safety Act will make image-based abuse a priority offence.

Although those are positive steps, they represent only modest progress. As experts such as End Violence Against Women and the #NotYourPorn campaign have pointed out, sharing intimate images without consent was already prioritised under the Online Safety Act. So far, the changes under this Government have been merely administrative and merely incremental. Having listened to survivors of image-based abuse, I urge the Minister to agree that this is no time for incremental change.

Georgia Harrison is a courageous campaigner who shared her story with the Women and Equalities Committee. Georgia’s images were distributed without her consent, leading to years of harassment, scrutiny and anguish. Even after her abuser was convicted, Georgia continued to see her images circulate online—a haunting reminder that, as she has stated, her life will never be the same again.

Another survivor is “Jodie”, who bravely spoke to the BBC about the trauma of being deepfaked by someone she once considered her best friend. Jodie discovered that images from her private Instagram account had been overlaid on pornographic material and posted across Reddit and other forums, with users invited to rate her body. Jodie endured this abuse for five years. She recalls:

“I felt alone. The emotional toll was enormous. There were points I was crying so much I burst the blood vessels in my eyes. I couldn’t sleep and when I did, I had nightmares.”

In Jodie’s case, the perpetrator was asking others to create explicit images of her, revealing a shameful grey area in our current legislation. That is why Jodie, along with campaign partners the End Violence Against Women coalition, Glamour and #NotYourPorn, is calling for an image-based abuse law.

Speaking as a mother, I cannot imagine having my child endure such horror. I am grateful that Baroness Owen of Alderley Edge has introduced a private Member’s Bill in the other place to address this gap. She has done a great deal of work on the issue, keeping victims like Georgia and Jodie at the heart of her Bill.

Georgia and Jodie’s experiences underscore three critical flaws in the Online Safety Act. The first is the glaring failure to criminalise abusive images themselves. Georgia’s story illustrates this brutal oversight: despite her abuser’s conviction, the absence of a stay-down provision allows her images still to circulate online, forcing her to relive the trauma with each resurfacing. To quote Professor Clare McGlynn,

“every day these images remain online is another day of extreme suffering for victims.”

Survivors deserve certainty that once their abuse is addressed, it is addressed permanently.

A second flaw in the Act is its reliance on Ofcom, whose current enforcement powers lack the agility and speed needed for an online world in which, if one website is blocked, another can appear instantly. Initiatives such as the StopNCII.org campaign have revealed how social media platforms consistently outmanoeuvre Ofcom. This is effectively leaving tech giants to determine whether supporting survivors like Georgia serves their profit-driven interests. To close the enforcement gaps, I stand with the End Violence Against Women coalition, Glitch and others in calling for a national online abuse commission —a dedicated body to champion the rights of victims and survivors of online abuse.

Finally, our legislation fails survivors by denying them accessible civil remedies—such as immediate take-downs and compensation for emotional harm—outside the criminal process. For survivors such as Jodie who have endured years of abuse, the inability to seek swift relief without a lengthy, retraumatising trial is a devastating gap. Creating a statutory civil offence for image-based abuse would not only empower survivors to seek redress directly against perpetrators and platforms, but give them that all-important second chance. The Minister will know that organisations such as South West Grid for Learning and the UK Safer Internet Centre consider civil remedies as much-needed lifelines for survivors. I wholeheartedly agree.

Today, through Georgia and Jodie’s stories, we have seen the devastating cost of our inaction on the escalating, ever-evolving crisis of image-based abuse. For too long, our legislation has had three glaring deficiencies: the absence of a stay-down provision, the lack of an online abuse commission and the unavailability of civil remedies.

Returning to my earlier questions, I want to be able to tell survivors that this Government are doing everything possible to support them. I want to reassure them that our Ministers are responding in real time to the scale and urgency of the crisis. With every day we delay, more women and girls are thrust into cycles of harm without the protections that they urgently need and deserve. I look forward to hearing from the Minister exactly how we will deliver this assurance. I would also be grateful if I could discuss the matter further with the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology at the earliest opportunity.

Let us not wait another day to act. Survivors need real action, not just incremental change. We owe it to Georgia, Jodie and all those who have suffered.