25 signatures reached
To: Minister for Justice Helen McEntee
Amend the Harassment & Harmful Communications Bill
Change the Harassment, Harmful Communications and related offences bill 2017 from a privacy bill to a sexual violence one.
Why is this important?
The bill was categorised by the Law Reform Commission in 2016 after focus groups of young teens identified it as a privacy issue. However on greater examination it is clear that this should fall under sexual violence laws. It is important that people who engage in image based crime should face serious implications for sharing inappropriate images without consent. Also it is important that judges and barristers should understand the full impact on victims lives from the sharing of these images, and be trained up to deal with what is a reasonably new crime, with the age of smart phones and widespread internet access.