An Act that criminalises the sharing of, or threatening to share, intimate images without consent has seen 99 prosecutions since its introduction in 2021.
The Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020, also known as ‘Coco’s Law’ after Nicole ‘Coco’ Fox, who died by suicide in 2018 following years of sustained bullying, has been under operational review by the Department of Justice.
The legislation, enacted by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee in February 2021, criminalises the sharing of, or threatening to share, intimate images without a person’s consent, whether or not there is intent to cause harm to the victim.
The penalties include up to seven years in prison or “an unlimited fine”.
The review examined the number of prosecutions taken, as well as the number of reports of intimate image abuse made to a hotline for illegal content, and the general awareness of the legislation.
It found that the Office of Director of Public Prosecutions had taken a total of 99 cases under the Act between its commencement and the end of 2023, while at the same time the number of charges issued by An Garda Síochána rose.
In 2021, there were 22 charges brought, a number that rose to 95 in 2022, and again to 113 in 2023.
Independent research conducted just months after the law’s introduction found that 69p percent of people thought it was against the law to share intimate images without consent, while 51 percent of people thought it was against the law to threaten to share intimate images.
Follow up research conducted in November 2023 found that those figures had risen to 97 percent and 96 percent respectively following a public awareness campaign.
That campaign involved a partnership with Hotline.ie to provide an accessible reporting mechanism for victims of intimate image abuse.
The review found that between September 2021 and December 2023 almost 1,500 reports were made to Hotline.ie which, after assessment, were found to be intimate image abuse.
Over 1,000 of these (1,006) were images or videos shared without the person’s consent via publicly accessible web-locations. Hotline.ie saw 92 percent of these removed.
Hotline.ie also received more than 400 reports relating to threats to share intimate images, which included 366 cases of sexual extortion and 27 threats to share intimate images for harassment purposes.
Minister McEntee said that it’s “heartening to see the legislation’s positive impact three years after commencement”.
“This legislation was needed given the prevalence of this crime, and the penalties – up to seven years in prison and an unlimited fine – are high to reflect the seriousness of the offences and the damage and hurt they cause,” she said.