Upskirting the tourists
Skirts are not an invitation to stealth photography. Who knew?
Many people do not realise that upskirting is a crime and fail to take the offence seriously, a senior police officer has warned.
Detective Superintendent Kate MacLeod from City of London Police said upskirting is abuse, and can escalate into “far worse” behaviour.
She nabbed a guy doing it at the British Museum last month.
There were so many images on his phone that she believes members of the public must have seen him filming victims on previous occasions before he was finally caught. “Upskirting is still a relatively new offence, and a lot of people won’t be aware it exists,” she said.
Men, maybe. I doubt many women are unaware. I’ve known at least since I was a teenager that skirts are a trap. Girls and women are often required to wear them, yet they make girls and women vulnerable in a really creepy way.
“People don’t realise the severity of the crime. We talk about violence against women and girls, and I think a lot of people think that has to be physical violence. But actually this is still abuse, albeit seemingly low level, and those behaviours can escalate into something far, far worse.”
Not seemingly to me. I don’t think it’s a bit low level.
Well, it’s literally low level. As in the physical height of the lens.
It’s also below the level of normal human decency. So there’s that.
I had a short stay in Singapore a few months ago and used the Metro a few times. I was intrigued to hear the announcements reminding people (men) that upskirting was an offence punishable with up to 2 years jail.
I can remember the fear and shame permeating my existence from that very vulnerability at age three. They finally changed the dress codes in high schools and colleges to allow girls/women to wear pants, just as I was graduating from high school and starting college. The flood of relief at being able to wear pants to school was one of the things I thank second wave feminism for. No longer a sitting duck, subject to male attack and humiliation.
It’s so insane, isn’t it? Skirts obviously make women and girls vulnerable but they were mandatory for years and years and years. What was anyone thinking?