MP Maria Miller might have been forced to step down from the Cabinet – previously minister for women and equalities, as well as secretary of state for culture, media and sport (sheesh, no wonder she was misbehaving with her expenses – that's a lot of responsibility to take on!) – but today she's going to use her power to say something that's utterly relevant and important to young women. She's going to ask for revenge porn to be banned.
Revenge porn – where explicit images of women are, usually after a break-up, uploaded onto specific 'revenge porn' sites, or just any old amateur porn host site, by one of the disgruntled parties with intention to humiliate their ex – is not yet a crime. As it stands, if the person in the image has consented to being filmed, then the person who owns the footage can do what they like with it. Crazy, right?
Earlier this year, a York University student started a petition to get revenge porn banned in the UK, but there's been no official intervention until now. Miller's proposal is to categorise revenge porn as 'a form of sexual violence against women' and to punish men who put sexually explicit pictures or footage of women online without their consent. This is a huge step in the right direction.
Miller recommended – seemingly to both men and women – that people be aware of where personal images could end up after being shared by even the most private means online. 'You have to remember anything you put online, everything you have put through your email system, could end up as public property. Think of the consequences,' she told*The Times. *She added that, while it's 'not for government to tell people how to run their private lives, we have to tell people so that they are aware of the consequences.'
Her decision to fight for this cause – one which already has campaigners battling in the US – comes after one of her constituents, whose life had been 'ruined' by revenge porn, got in touch with her. Miller appreciates that this is just the 'tip of the iceberg', and that many more women are featured on these sites. 'My fear is that there will be a lot of women who are suffering in silence.'
Campaign groups say there could be up to 30 websites specifically dedicated to revenge porn, where there are options to enter the names, jobs and even phone numbers of whoever they decide to upload photos of, so that people can get in touch and berate them.
While it's such a shame that Miller doesn't have as much clout as she used to, maybe being able to spend more time talking to her constituents has been a good thing, and hopefully this proposal is going to be taken on by the Government. We can't imagine why not.
Follow Sophie on Twitter @sophwilkinson
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.