The woman who campaigned to make upskirting a specific criminal offence said she felt ‘disgusted’ after Metro uncovered a ‘creep-shotting’ website targeting hundreds of women across London.
The website claims to have 400 videos of victims being followed and filmed in Westfield, tube stations and bus stops.
This is classified as a type of voyeurism, called upskirting, which is not just limited to women wearing skirts or dresses.
It became a specific offence following campaigning from Gina Martin. She herself was upskirted at a concert in Hyde Park in 2017.
But after she reported the incident to police, the case was dropped after they told her it was not a specific offence.
Almost 10 years on, and showing her the website over Zoom, it is clear not much has changed.
She told : ‘I still live with the impacts of being upskirted today. There’s this feeling of a loss of control, because that video of me is still out there, and there’s nothing I can do about it.’
Videos on the latest website show women being filmed by two men holding DJI Osmo Pocket cameras, which can fit snugly into the palm of a hand.
Most of the victims appear to be unaware they are being filmed. Two young girls acknowledged the camera as they ordered food at a McDonald’s, but this did not stop the man.
Gina said: ‘Every year we are getting more tech-facilitated abuse. Like we are seeing criminals use Meta Glasses to now target people, but it’s also this dominant culture of misogyny we live in, which allows men to think they can do this and revel in it.’
The Metropolitan Police has not said whether they are investigating the website, but Ofcom has confirmed they are actively reviewing it under the Online Safety Act.
Ofcom can issue fines, but only the police has the power to take down websites.
Giving advice to those who have fallen victim to the website, Gina has urged people to not ‘brush it off’ because the crime is ‘no-contact’.
She said: ‘Don’t make yourself smaller – it’s an assault. I did not wear skirts for years, it changed the way I looked at men in public and I had this constant level of anxiety.
‘Be open to discussing it – even if you aren’t fully sure it happened to you.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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