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How One Woman Made Upskirting a Crime in 18 Months
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velma sh.itjust.works velma@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2026-05-07
Quote

In July 2017, at a music festival in Hyde Park, London, a man took a photograph up her skirt without her consent. She grabbed his phone, saw the image, and took it straight to the police. They told her, gently, that there was nothing they could do — it wasn’t a specific criminal offence. Within days, the case was closed.

She went home and decided that answer was not good enough. With no lawyer, no funding, and no political connections, she launched a campaign to make upskirting a crime. Eighteen months later, she had changed the law for all of England and Wales.

...

Martin’s power did not come from expertise. She had no legal degree, no seat in Parliament, no wealthy backers. What she had was a refusal to accept a bad answer and the stamina to keep asking the question long after most people would have given up. The expertise — the lawyer, the MP, the drafting — arrived because she kept going, not before.

197   Original
fireweed lemmy.world fireweed@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-13
#2 · Quote Reply

Interesting story, but I have to assume the article was written entirely by AI. Short, choppy sentences, a heading for every paragraph, scant on details. It's too bad, because I wanted to hear more about how she did it.

50
TRAHR quokk.au TRAHR@quokk.au
Joined: 2026-08-17
#3 · Quote Reply

So why hasn’t JK Rowling been charged yet?

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velma sh.itjust.works velma@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2026-05-07
#4 · (edited) Quote Reply

Interesting story, but I have to assume the article was written entirely by AI. Short, choppy sentences, a heading for every paragraph, scant on details. It's too bad, because I wanted to hear more about how she did it.

Here's a Guardian article about her.

65
fireweed lemmy.world fireweed@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-13
#5 · Quote Reply

Here's a Guardian article about her.

That was a great read; did not expect to be hit with a bucketful of nuance about the punitive nature of the judicial system.

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velma sh.itjust.works velma@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2026-05-07
#6 · Quote Reply

That was a great read; did not expect to be hit with a bucketful of nuance about the punitive nature of the judicial system.

I really appreciate your first comment - this Guardian article was even better than the OP story. Without your comment, I'm not sure I would have dug more into her today. Thanks.

29
DarkSirrush piefed.ca DarkSirrush@piefed.ca
Joined: 2025-06-07
#7 · (edited) Quote Reply

So why hasn’t JK Rowling been charged yet?

Because he (as his pen name uses male pronouns) is rich, and therefore can do what he wants.

0
Waffelmeister lemmy.world Waffelmeister@lemmy.world
Joined: 2026-08-10
#8 · (edited) Quote Reply

So why hasn’t JK Rowling been charged yet?

Is this JK you're talking about into upskirting? Because that's a crime now.

5
TheLeadenSea sh.itjust.works TheLeadenSea@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2025-06-04
#9 · Quote Reply

Great can we make infant genital mutilation a crime too now

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the_mighty_kracken lemmy.world the_mighty_kracken@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-14
#10 · Quote Reply

Great can we make infant genital mutilation a crime too now

Not unless you have a degree in baby law

7
TRAHR quokk.au TRAHR@quokk.au
Joined: 2026-08-17
#11 · Quote Reply

Is this JK you're talking about into upskirting? Because that's a crime now.

Yes she posted upskirt pictures of a trans woman all over social media.

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cheers_queers lemmy.zip cheers_queers@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2025-06-04
#12 · Quote Reply

Yes she posted upskirt pictures of a trans woman all over social media.

every time i think i have heard the worst i can hear about her, i hear something worse

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Viking_Hippie lemmy.dbzer0.com Viking_Hippie@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2024-12-04
#13 · Quote Reply

Not unless you have a degree in baby law

Babies and birds are basically the same thing, right? 🤷🏻

2
Waffelmeister lemmy.world Waffelmeister@lemmy.world
Joined: 2026-08-10
#14 · Quote Reply

Yes she posted upskirt pictures of a trans woman all over social media.

Oh wow, I did not know that. She's so spiteful. It really seems like she enjoys her maliciousness.

6
captainlezbian lemmy.world captainlezbian@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-29
#15 · Quote Reply

Here's a Guardian article about her.

Mad respect to her for seeing the need for solutions beyond the carceral.

3
captainlezbian lemmy.world captainlezbian@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-29
#16 · Quote Reply

every time i think i have heard the worst i can hear about her, i hear something worse

Yep, and it was clearly done to silence the victim by way of sexual humiliation

2
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