News
A new UK law will be introduced to make ‘cyberflashing’ a criminal offence
Perpetrators could face up to two years behind bars.
A new law is soon to be introduced in the UK, and it will make the act known as ‘cyberflashing’ a criminal offence.
Not sure what ‘cyberflashing’ is? Well, the practice typically involves offenders sending an unsolicited sexual image to people via social media or dating apps, but it can also be done over data sharing services such as Bluetooth and Airdrop too, and in some instances, a preview of the photo can appear on a person’s device – which means that even if the transfer is rejected, victims are still forced into seeing the image.
It’s a practice that’s sadly on the rise too, as new research conduced by Professor Jessica Ringrose from 2020 found that 76% of girls aged 12-18 had been sent unsolicited nude images of boys or men.
This is why government ministers have confirmed their plans to ban the act, which is set to be included in the landmark Online Safety Bill, alongside wide-ranging reforms to keep people safe on the internet.
Under this new law, perpetrators could face up to two years behind bars.
The Government says the new offence will ensure ‘cyberflashing’ is captured clearly by the criminal law, giving the police and Crown Prosecution Service “greater ability to bring more perpetrators to justice”, and it follows similar recent action to criminalise upskirting and breastfeeding voyeurism.
The Government says it is “determined” to protect people, particularly women and girls, from these emerging crimes.
The introduction of the new law means that anyone who sends a photo or film of a person’s genitals, for the purpose of their own sexual gratification or to cause the victim humiliation, alarm or distress may face up to two years in prison.
Read more: Wolf whistling and cat calling could be made illegal under new plans to tackle street harassment
Speaking on the introduction of the new law, Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Justice, Dominic Raab said: “Protecting women and girls is my top priority which is why we’re keeping sexual and violent offenders behind bars for longer, giving domestic abuse victims more time to report assaults and boosting funding for support services to £185 million per year.
“Making cyberflashing a specific crime is the latest step – sending a clear message to perpetrators that they will face jail time.”
“Tech has the power to bring people together and make our lives better, but it can also enable heinous behaviour from those who wish to abuse, harm and harass,” added Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries.
“The forthcoming Online Safety Bill will force tech companies to stop their platforms being used to commit vile acts of cyberflashing.
“We are bringing the full weight on individuals who perpetrate this awful behaviour.”
According to the government, the Online Safety Bill will put more legal responsibility on social media platforms, search engines and other websites or apps which host user-generated content to tackle a range of illegal and harmful content on their services, and the new cyberflashing offence comes after three other new criminal offences were introduced through this Bill, tackling a wide range of “harmful private and public online communication”.
These include sending abusive emails, social media posts and WhatsApp messages, as well as ‘pile-on’ harassment – where many people target abuse at an individual such as in website comment sections.
Featured Image – Gilles Lambert (via Unsplash)
News
NHS to begin offering new one-minute jab to women with ‘aggressive’ form of cancer
Emily Sergeant
The NHS is set to begin offering new immunotherapy for hundreds of women with aggressive cervical cancer across the country.
Pembrolizumab – which experts have described as being able to ‘take the handbrake off’ the body’s immune system to target cancer – will now be presented as a new treatment option for women in England with locally-advanced cervical cancer, which means the cancer has grown beyond the cervix to regions such as the pelvic wall, but not yet spread further around the body.
Trials found that adding pembrolizumab to standard chemoradiotherapy helped keep cancer ‘at bay’ for longer, and improved survival rates overall.
Two years after starting the treatment, nearly seven in 10 patients (68%) were still living without their cancer progressing, compared with 57% for those receiving chemoradiotherapy alone, according to NHS figures.
The trial also found that 82.6% of patients were still alive three years after treatment with pembrolizumab and chemoradiotherapy, compared with 74.8% with chemoradiotherapy alone.
The drug is either given every three or siz weeks via an infusion, or as a ‘one-minute’ injection, alongside chemoradiotherapy.
The NHS estimates around 550 patients in England will be eligible for the treatment – which has been approved this week by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) – over the next two years.
Patients will now receive fast-tracked access, funded by NHS England’s Cancer Drugs Fund.
“This is great news for women facing a diagnosis of aggressive cervical cancer, and represents one of the biggest improvements in treatment for this disease in recent years,” commented Professor Peter Johnson, who is the NHS National Clinical Director for Cancer.
“Combining this immunotherapy with existing treatment has had very positive effect for patients in trials, helping the body’s immune system to target cancer more effectively.
Read more:
“We’re delighted it will be available for patients on the NHS as it could help hundreds more women survive and stay cancer-free in the long-term.”
Featured Image – NappyStudio (via Unsplash)
News
Andy Burnham wants to bring the ‘Greater Manchester way’ to Westminster
Emily Sergeant
Andy Burnham has set out his vision for the country if he is to become Prime Minister.
In case you need brining up to speed first, after it was announced earlier this month that Andy Burnham had clinched the victory in the crucial Makerfield by-election, winning 24,927 votes (54.8% vote share) and a majority of 9,231, he then went onto announce his intention to run for Labour Party leader, and therefore Prime Minister, after Keir Starmer confirmed he would be stepping down.
And this week, Mr Burnham has now delivered his first speech as part of his ongoing campaign, addressing how he plans to give the country a ‘new direction’.
Burnham says that he wants to bring the ‘Greater Manchester way’ to Westminster.
A lot has been discussed and reported on when it comes to Burnham’s intentions to create a so-called Number 10 North here in Manchester, but what exactly does it mean to take the ‘Greater Manchester way’ to the capital?
“The Greater Manchester way is based on strong partnership between all sectors: public, private,
community, voluntary, academic, faith, and our trade unions,” Burnham said in his speech.
He continued: “When I started as Mayor in 2017, we set about building a new approach, a new politics based on the exact opposite of the Westminster approach.
“Place-first, not party-first. Problem-solving, not point-scoring. Long-term, not short-term.
“A decade on, it’s incredible how much we’ve been able to achieve by working together instead
of fighting against one another.”
Burnham said he feels the truth is that the country spends ‘too much time arguing and not enough time doing’ and that for Britain to get back where it ‘should be’, his Government would ask everyone to ‘face the same way’ and then ‘pull in that same direction together’.
He declared that No 10 North will be the ‘nerve centre’ for a rewired Britain.
Read more:
“It will be the conduit through which we redistribute power and resources across the UK,” he concluded. “It will coordinate all parts of Government, at national and local level, to agree a long-term
economic strategy and help all places set new growth ambitions.”
Featured Image – GMCA
Emily Sergeant -
14th March 2022 
