'Upskirting' victim campaigning to make it illegal 'bombarded with rape threats'

Gina Martin, 26, has spent the last year calling for the ban
Gina Martin
Alexandra Richards15 June 2018

A woman who was a victim of upskirting and is spearheading the campaign to criminalise it said she has been bombarded with rape threats and abusive messages.

Gina Martin, 26, has spent the last year calling for the ban after two men took a picture up her skirt while at the British Summer Time festival in London's Hyde Park in 2017.

Ms Martin, a freelance writer living in London, has received wide spread support for her campaign from the likes of television presenters Holly Willoughby, Dermot O'Leary and Laura Whitmore.

But she said the campaign has also resulted in her receiving regular torrents of abuse over social media, as well as accusations that she was to blame.

She said: "It's generally people telling me that I should have worn trousers, or I deserved it, or I'm attention-seeking, but they can get pretty horrible at points.

Holly Willoughby has backed Gina Martin's campaign
Getty Images

"At the very beginning it was really bad and I was getting a lot of rape threats.

"I still get a lot of stuff in comments, but, if anything, it shows me that people don't get this, so let's keep going."

The first figures on the prevalence of upskirting, published by the Press Association earlier this year, showed complainants as young as 10, with incidents in a slew of public locations such as restaurants and festivals.

Currently victims in England and Wales are forced to seek prosecution through other legal avenues, such as outraging public decency or harassment, prompting the call for a specific law similar to one already in force in Scotland.

A Private Member's Bill, tabled by Bath Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse, is in the list to be potentially called on June 15, although there would be further legal hurdles before any law comes into force.

Ms Martin said she hoped the campaign would have a positive impact on attitudes as well as providing a clear avenue for justice for victims, many of whom have also contacted her for advice or support.

She said: "They (victims) feel they can reach out because they know I've been through it.

"But the really interesting thing for me is that it can happen anywhere - it's supermarkets, it's bus stops when they're on their own, Tube cars, in parks, festivals - it's happening everywhere.

"Before I started working with Ryan (Whelan, her lawyer) it was very difficult for me to professionalise it and say 'We're going to do this' - it was 'I'm going to try and do this'.

"Now I feel I've got to the point where we are going to do this, and I'm doing it for other women because my case was closed four days after it happened to me - it's not about me.

"It really spurs me on because they need my help, and hopefully we'll get there soon.

"The change in the law is huge, it sets a precedent of what's right and wrong and it means it will cover women in every situation which the law can't now.

"But changing attitudes is also really important. More importantly, realising you can be a regular person like I am and make a difference if you keep working at it and get the right people involved."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in