An Academic Associate at Nottingham Trent University is conducting research on officers’ experience working cases involving the non-consensual sharing of images.

S.33 of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 introduced what is commonly referred to as the “revenge porn” offence. It was created for those who deliberately disclose private sexual images with intent to cause distress.

The Domestic Abuse Act 2021 amended this section so that the threat to disclose such images was also made an offence.

Such behaviour could be subject to a maximum penalty of two years’ imprisonment, a fine or both.

Nottingham Trent University Academic Associate, Georgina Mclocklin, is now conducting an ethically approved research study which looks at officers’ experiences and opinions on working on cases involving the non-consensual sharing of sexual or nude images. She will be researching areas of training, support and practical issues officers may face when dealing with such cases.

She said: “Despite having experiential expertise, little research has considered the police voice in addressing this new crime.

“As it is becoming a growing problem, it is important to understand how this is handled so any possible challenges police may be facing can be addressed.

“The research involves an online interview with police officers about their opinions/experiences (no specific case information is required).”

The research has been approved by the Nottingham Trent University’s Ethics Committee and the Evidence Based Policing Group. Any contributions made by officers would be kept anonymous.

To find out more about the project, please contact georgina.mclocklin02@ntu.ac.uk