A COUNSELLING group in Bournemouth has welcomed tougher laws against revenge porn.

Last week the government announced that revenge pornography – the distribution of a private sexual image of someone without their consent and with the intention of causing them distress – will be made a specific offence in the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill, which is currently going through parliament.

Angela Craven, manager of Relate Bournemouth, said she is pleased the legislation could result in offenders being jailed.

She added: “Revenge pornography is an extremely painful issue for the victim being targeted. For the victim to have so little control over a personal image and to know that their image could remain on the internet to be distributed at will, would have a long lasting emotional impact. “When you consider that 74 per cent of all adults use the internet every day and the average person checks their mobile phone 110 times, the speed at which information now changes hand is at a pace that legislation is struggling to keep up with”

Justice Secretary Chris Grayling said: “The fact that there are individuals who are cruelly distributing intimate pictures of their former partners without their consent is almost beyond belief.

“We want those who fall victim to this type of disgusting behaviour to know that we are on their side and will do everything we can to bring offenders to justice.”

The change will cover the sharing of images both online and offline. It will mean that images posted to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter will be caught by the offence, as well as those that are shared via text message.

Images shared via email, on a website or the distribution of physical copies will also be caught.

Those convicted will face a maximum sentence of two years in prison.