Long read: Violence against women Q&A with Newbury MP Laura Farris
Creating a sexually explicit deepfake image will now be a criminal offence.
Newbury MP Laura Farris endorsed the Government move after taking the Bill through the House of Commons.
The minister for victims and safeguarding has long-held an interest in tackling male violence against women and girls and campaigned against the rough sex defence and called for more CCTV in underpasses in Newbury.
So Newburytoday caught up with her to find out why she is interested in this area of law and what more needs to be done.
Q: Women’s safety has been a priority for you since being elected – why has this topic been so high on the agenda?
A: Male violence against women (whether in the form of domestic abuse, rape and serious sexual violence, and other non-contact forms of offending like stalking and indecent exposure) accounts for around 25 per cent of all police work in this country.
I think for many years some of this was not treated with the seriousness that it deserved – domestic abuse incidents were sometimes casually described as “just a domestic” and often not investigated, and we still attach childish names to other forms of offending like “flashing” which minimise their seriousness and fail to recognise that they can often escalate into something more serious.
I have always been interested in this area of the law, and frankly the injustice in the way that crimes against women were treated and I have tried to use my time in Parliament to address this.
Obviously I have a much more powerful opportunity to do that as a Government minister as it is the focus of my ministerial brief.
Q: How have rapid advancements in social media and artificial intelligence (ie deepfake images) had an impact on the safety of women and girls?
A: First of all, I think the easy availability of online porn (much of it violent) has had a dangerous impact on male attitudes and proclivities, and I think this in itself impacts on women’s safety.
Second, the online environment has created new terrain for abuse to take place.
It has also led to a proliferation of intimate image abuse from taking and sharing intimate images without consent, revenge porn and cyberflashing.
Deepfake images are an aspect of this and is a problem that is growing exponentially.
We know of all deepfake images, 98 per cent are pornographic and 99 per cent feature women as the subject matter.
Deepfake creation is inherently misogynistic.
We had already made it an offence to share sexually explicit deepfakes but had not said anything about their creation.
I believe we are the first national Government to make it a criminal offence to create a deepfake sexually-explicit image of a person without their consent – even if you do so with the intention of keeping it to yourself.
Q: How will the new deepfake law help to tackle this?
A: We thought the law was necessary to send the clearest possible message that it is unacceptable to manipulate images of real women in a way that is degrading, when you do not have their consent.
And that if you do so you will end up with a criminal record.
I am very pleased that within 48 hours of making this announcement two of the biggest deepfake sites in the world (Mr Deepfake, and ClothOff) had blocked access to users in the United Kingdom.
I hope that other deepfake sites will swiftly follow their example. And it shows that be putting something into law can have a powerful deterrent effect and I know that there are other countries who are watching us carefully on this.
Q: What involvement, as minister for victims and safeguarding, have you had on this piece of legislation?
A: The clause on deepfakes will go into the Criminal Justice Bill and I am one of the two ministers taking the Bill through the House so I have been reasonably heavily involved in its development - although the first draft of the Bill was already published before I became a minister.
Deepfakes is one of my additions. Others include:
1. A new law on [drink] spiking.
2. The suspension of parental responsibility for anyone who commits an offence of child rape.
3. A standalone offence of assault on a retail worker (which is closely related to shoplifting).
4. Increased sentences for people who operate in grooming gangs.
5. Mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse by any responsible adult who works with children. This was the number one recommendation of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
Q: In 2022 you released a survey which found 85 per cent of respondents felt unsafe in the local area at some point in West Berkshire. What work have you done to tackle this?
A: The survey was one part of my work. I also held a women’s safety roundtable and worked with local secondaries.
Two of the issues raised by the school pupils directly influenced my work in Parliament – the first was online abuse, especially concerning intimate images, and the second was sexual harassment outside schools.
I was actively involved as a backbencher in both the Online Safety Act – which creates obligations on social media companies to identify and remove content of this nature and impose robust age verification measures.
And also the Public Sexual Harassment Act which is coming into effect on 1 October this year.
Two other issues concerned public transport – where I have since worked with British Transport Police and GWR on improving safety on trains at night.
And the safety of our town centres. I have not been successful in getting CCTV installed in the underpass next to Burger King although I do have some further ideas as to how we might get this in the future.
I’ve also worked with Newbury BID on safety in the town centre and from my own experience out with the street pastors I do think that overall safety in the very centre of Newbury at night is well managed with the right combination of police presence, CCTV and the street pastors themselves.
Q: There have been many pivotal moments shining a light on women’s safety, changing societal views and prompting change – for instance Sarah Everard’s case – are there any that stand out to you during your time as an MP?
A: The Sarah Everard was just appalling in every way and particularly because the perpetrator was a serving Metropolitan Police officer.
And I think in general the issues around police conduct and serious convictions involving serving police officers like David Carrick have been one of the most shocking things of the last few years and had a profound effect on public confidence.
But two other categories of cases have particularly shocked me:
First, where victims were brutally killed by people who they would have expected to keep them safe – Megan Newborough being one example.
Second, where a victim has been killed in horrendous circumstances and the killer has received a derisory sentence. The Sophie Moss / Sam Pybus case was an example.
Shortly after the Sarah Everard case, the Government published a document called Tackling Violence Against Women Strategy Tackling violence against women and girls strategy - which I was re-reading the other day.
And the one thing I did think was that in the three years since it was published we had made a lot of progress on the objectives it sets out, which is a very good thing.
Q: Have you spoken with many victims in this time and what have you learnt?
A: I’ve spoken to many victims in this time and I would say that when it comes to issues like domestic abuse I do have a sense that the overall response of the police, the criminal and family courts and local authorities is improving.
For example, 38 out of 43 forces in England and Wales have now received the Domestic Abuse Matters training which is delivered by College of Policing in conjunction with Women’s Aid.
This trains frontline officers on vital issues like ‘coercive control’ which pretty much underpins all domestic abuse, and how to apply for protective orders.
I would still like to see the police making better use of their protective powers – and in fact I made an announcement this week on how we can make it easier for them to apply for Stalking Protection Orders but overall l think the understanding of the complexity of domestic abuse has greatly improved.
I also think the work we have been doing on things like economic abuse and getting high street banks and credit agencies to support our work is leading to real measurable improvement in people’s lives.
I also think we have made significant strides in recognising children as victims of domestic abuse when they live in a household where this takes place and giving them specialist support.
The worst cases are where I meet with the victims’ family – usually parents – following a homicide.
The cases I find the hardest and most frustrating are where the victim knew they were in danger, went to the police to raise the alarm and still ended up as a murder victim.
Gracie Spinks is one example of this which is why I want the police to go much further on stalking and taking the protective steps that they have within their power.
Q: In 2023, you had success with your campaign to tackle violence against women when Dominic Raab announced tougher sentences for perpetrators of domestic homicide and sexually-motivated manslaughter.
Was it a difficult journey to get to that point? And what struggles did you face?
A: It was a two-part journey.
One of the first campaigns I ran in Parliament was in outlawing the so-called rough sex defence – which was a change I got into the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 with Harriet Harman. This had seen some men kill their partners with appalling acts of violence and receive derisory sentences for manlaughter by arguing they were only doing what she had wanted.
But that change in the law only said that it was not a defence to suggest someone had consented to or invited their injuries.
It didn’t change the fact that many sentences were at the lower end.
I found about half a dozen cases of this nature where the killer got less than five years for really serious violence.
Less than you could get for pet theft. So I wanted to change that – and in fact that change is now coming in formally in the Criminal Justice Bill which I mentioned above.
I would just add that the families of victims do really appreciate it when you change the law in relation to their loved-ones case.
Q: What have you learnt about women’s safety in the UK, during your time as an MP?
A: That however much we enact new laws and create new strategies, those laws will only work if they are complemented by effective policing and we get a grip on the volume of violent porn (and also dangerous influencers) who are poisoning young men’s minds.
The vast majority of men of course are nothing like that, but there is a small minority who pose a serious threat and my task is to ensure that the framework and standards of conduct within the police are as robust as possible.
And also that the Pornography Review (which is currently being conducted by Baroness Bertin) and the Online Safety Act lead to robust, direct action which protects children and young people much better than it has so far.
Q: What else have you been working on within your role as minister for victims and safeguarding? Have you spoken with many victims in this time and what have you learnt?
A: Also within my role, I am responsible for child sexual abuse and work closely with the Child Sexual Exploitation Taskforce and on the implementation of the recommendations of the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse.
I am also responsible for modern slavery and we are currently producing a review of the effectiveness of the legislation which is nearing its 10th anniversary.
Finally, I work on miscarriages of justice including the Andrew Malkinson case, and am working with the families of Grace O’Malley Kumar, Barnaby Webber and Ian Coates in relation to the Nottingham murders that took place last year.
Q: Where would you direct people who want to get involved and make a difference to women’s safety in West Berkshire?
A: Three excellent organisations in West Berkshire are FLAG DV (Free Legal Advice for Domestic Abuse) which directs victims to legal support they may need for every issue from criminal justice to housing and child protection.
Also Berkshire Women’s Aid and Project Salama who offer support to minoritised victims of domestic abuse and honour-based offences.
