Source · Select Committees · Women and Equalities Committee
Recommendation 20
20
Accepted in Part
Produce joint guidance to improve police response and content takedown for intimate image abuse.
Recommendation
The College of Policing, Ofcom, and the Revenge Porn Helpline should work together to produce guidance to improve the police response to reports of non-consensual intimate image abuse. That guidance should include the steps police officers need to take to help ensure that content is taken down and blocked as a matter of priority. (Recommendation, Paragraph 104)
Government Response Summary
The government partially accepts, noting the College of Policing has already issued new guidance on online image offending. They are providing £13m funding for a new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection, which will develop and deliver improved training, engaging with the RPH to inform it.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
Partial acceptance The College of Policing provided new guidance on online image offending (including non-consensual intimate image abuse) to forces towards the end of last year. This builds on existing core learning for police officers to equip them to investigate online offending. These programmes include learning on how offenders target vulnerable victims and the motivations for suspect behaviour, including online. There is also additional training available for specific crime types or specialist roles, which includes a focus on the use of technology in offending and a specialist course for rape and other sexual offences, testing officers’ knowledge on image offences. In addition, this Government committed to improving training for policing on VAWG, this includes online offending. As part of this, we are providing over £13m funding for a new National Centre for VAWG and Public Protection to help transform the police response to VAWG. Part of the Centre’s work will be to develop and deliver an improved package of training for police officers at all ranks as part of a Professionalising Public Protection Programme. The Home Office will be working closely with the Centre to ensure that new training initiatives meet the needs of victims and cover all areas of VAWG offending, including non-consensual intimate image abuse. Through our funding, we expect the Centre to utilise academic expertise and engage closely with the sector, including the RPH, to inform their training. We are also exploring further opportunities for this work with policing and wider government.