Speech in Commons Chamber - Wed 05 Sep 2018
Voyeurism (Offences) (No. 2) Bill
"“Courage calls to courage everywhere”: that is what we have been saying so much this year, and I welcome the courage of Gina Martin to take action, of the hon. Member for Bath (Wera Hobhouse) for following it through, of my hon. Friend the Member for Christchurch (Sir Christopher Chope) …..."Maria Miller - View Speech
View all Maria Miller (Con - Basingstoke) contributions to the debate on: Voyeurism (Offences) (No. 2) Bill
Written Question
Friday 20th July 2018
Asked by:
Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question
to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 25 June 2018 to Question 155217, if he will place details of the consultation with victims referred to in the Library.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The offence at Section 33 of the Criminal Justice Act 2015 was introduced after engagement with interested persons, including victims and key stakeholders. This was swiftly conducted and a formal document was not produced or published. Feedback was used to inform the policy making process.
Written Question
Tuesday 3rd July 2018
Asked by:
Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question
to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reason the Government classified up-skirting as a sex offence.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The Government’s Bill inserts new provisions into the Sexual Offences Act 2003. This enables the most serious offenders who commit the crime for sexual motives to be placed on the Sex Offenders Register.
Speech in General Committees - Mon 02 Jul 2018
Voyeurism (Offences) (No. 2) Bill
"The Minister is outlining the importance of the offence in great detail, and has talked about reasons why an individual might engage in upskirting. Another reason why someone might take upskirting photographs is financial gain, but the Bill does not capture that and there is concern in Scotland about whether …..."Maria Miller - View Speech
View all Maria Miller (Con - Basingstoke) contributions to the debate on: Voyeurism (Offences) (No. 2) Bill
Speech in General Committees - Mon 02 Jul 2018
Voyeurism (Offences) (No. 2) Bill
"After being in the House for 13 years I thought that the time for firsts was over, but this is the first time I have ever been on a Second Reading Committee, and it is great to be here, Ms Buck, and to serve under your chairmanship.
The Bill should …..."Maria Miller - View Speech
View all Maria Miller (Con - Basingstoke) contributions to the debate on: Voyeurism (Offences) (No. 2) Bill
Speech in General Committees - Mon 02 Jul 2018
Voyeurism (Offences) (No. 2) Bill
"I am not sure that the Bill addresses that issue. I am not a lawyer and certainly not an eminent QC, so the Minister may want to stop me if I am wrong, but I think that those sorts of issues are dealt with in the usual ways by the …..."Maria Miller - View Speech
View all Maria Miller (Con - Basingstoke) contributions to the debate on: Voyeurism (Offences) (No. 2) Bill
Speech in General Committees - Mon 02 Jul 2018
Voyeurism (Offences) (No. 2) Bill
"I note that my hon. Friend is another eminently qualified barrister and I am not—I have never studied the law—but is he not a little bit more concerned about the impact on the victim, rather than always looking at the motivations of the perpetrator? Surely the impact on the victim …..."Maria Miller - View Speech
View all Maria Miller (Con - Basingstoke) contributions to the debate on: Voyeurism (Offences) (No. 2) Bill
Speech in General Committees - Mon 02 Jul 2018
Voyeurism (Offences) (No. 2) Bill
"Before the Minister moves on, I just want to be really clear about something. Victims of upskirting will have anonymity, but she did not draw on the actions of the Government to give anonymity to victims of forced marriage or FGM. Why was it acceptable in those cases but not …..."Maria Miller - View Speech
View all Maria Miller (Con - Basingstoke) contributions to the debate on: Voyeurism (Offences) (No. 2) Bill
Speech in General Committees - Mon 02 Jul 2018
Voyeurism (Offences) (No. 2) Bill
"My hon. and learned Friend says that an individual was convicted of harassment for superimposing a face on a pornographic image. I am not sure that she should be dissatisfied—I think she should be outraged and we should be doing something about it. This is not a problem in the …..."Maria Miller - View Speech
View all Maria Miller (Con - Basingstoke) contributions to the debate on: Voyeurism (Offences) (No. 2) Bill
Written Question
Monday 25th June 2018
Asked by:
Maria Miller (Conservative - Basingstoke)
Question
to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if the Government will make an assessment of the potential merits of reclassifying the offence of posting explicit or sexual images online without permission as a sex offence; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Lucy Frazer
The offence at Section 33 of the Criminal Justice Act 2015 criminalises the disclosure of private sexual photographs or films without the consent of an individual who appears in them and with the intent to cause that individual distress.
Such behaviour is a terrible abuse of trust which can leave victims feeling humiliated and degraded.
I am glad to see people are being prosecuted under this new offence which carries a maximum sentence of two years behind bars.
At the time the offence was brought in it was deliberately designed to strengthen existing law by targeting the malicious non-consensual sharing of private sexual images, a motive more akin to the offence of blackmail. This decision was taken after consultation with victims who strongly supported the focus on the malicious nature of this behaviour.