This bill aims to make it illegal to create or solicit sexually explicit or intimate images without the consent of the people in them. This would include deepfake content, where photos or video are digitally manipulated to make a person appear to be in an intimate situation. The government has said that banning the creation of non-consensual explicit deepfake content is a priority.
Non-Consensual Sexually Explicit Images and Videos (Offences) Bill [HL] (335 KB , PDF)
Baroness Owen has described the increase of sexually explicit deepfakes as “inherently sexist and rapidly proliferating”.
The Non-Consensual Sexually Explicit Images and Videos (Offences) Bill [HL] would amend the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to create offences related to the taking or soliciting of a sexually explicit photograph or film, where the person in it does not consent and the offender does not reasonably believe that the person consents.
The bill includes digitally produced content. The offender would be liable to imprisonment for a maximum of six months or a fine (or both). The court could also require them to delete any copies of the images.
The Online Safety Act 2023 added new offences to the Sexual Offences Act 2003, making it illegal to share or threaten to share intimate images—including deepfakes—of those depicted without their consent. The previous government intended to add further related offences to the statute through the Criminal Justice Bill. These would have included an offence of taking an intimate image or making a deepfake intimate image of another person without their consent. Labour supported these measures. However, the bill fell at dissolution 2024.
Banning the creation of sexually explicit deepfakes was a Labour manifesto commitment. The government has said it is considering what further legislative measures may be needed to strengthen the law on taking intimate images without consent.
Non-Consensual Sexually Explicit Images and Videos (Offences) Bill [HL] (335 KB , PDF)
The crown court backlog reached a record high of 73,105 cases in September 2024. The impact on victims, witnesses and defendants has been significant as they wait longer for their cases to be resolved. The government commissioned an independent review of criminal courts that will produce reform recommendations to address crown court pressures. Whilst stakeholders have welcomed the review, some have called for more immediate action to reduce the backlog.
Integration and community cohesion have both been identified as important factors to enable people from different communities to live and work together. Like the previous Conservative government, the current Labour government has committed to policies intended to support integration in order to improve community cohesion. This briefing summarises how integration and community cohesion are conceptualised and measured and discusses the debate on effective integration strategies.
In the 2021 ‘End-to-end rape review’, the Conservative government pointed to a sharp decrease in rape prosecutions since 2016/17. Issues cited include long delays during the criminal justice process and a lack of specialist support for victims. Labour’s 2024 general election manifesto argued prosecutions were “shamefully low”. It committed to specialist rape and sexual offences teams in every police force and specialist courts to fast-track rape cases.
