Government announces public consultation report on proposed introduction of offences of voyeurism, intimate prying and non-consensual photography of intimate parts and related offences

     The Security Bureau announced today (January 8) the public consultation report on the proposed introduction of offences of voyeurism, intimate prying and non-consensual photography of intimate parts and related offences, summarising the consultation outcome.

     The Government earlier proposed to introduce the following six new criminal offences and consulted the public's views thereon:

(1) voyeurism (i.e. observing or recording of intimate acts for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification); 
(2) intimate prying (i.e. observing or recording of intimate acts irrespective of the purpose);
(3) non-consensual photography of intimate parts for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification;
(4) non-consensual photography of intimate parts irrespective of the purpose; 
(5) distribution of surreptitious images obtained from the above-mentioned acts; and 
(6) non-consensual distribution of intimate images where consent was previously given for taking such images but not for subsequent distribution.

     During the three-month public consultation which concluded on October 7, 2020, the Government received a total about 200 submissions, including those from major stakeholders including the Law Society of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Bar Association, the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data; other groups/organisations which are concerned with sexual offences; and individual members of the public. 

     A spokesman for the Security Bureau said, "The majority of the submissions received expressed strong support for the legislative proposals and some of them have also offered constructive views on specific proposals. 

     "The Security Bureau will brief the Legislative Council Panel on Security members on the outcome of the consultation and the detailed legislative proposals on January 15. The Government is in parallel working on the drafting of the proposed amendment bill. Subject to the drafting progress, the target is to submit the amendment bill to the Legislative Council in the second half of this legislative year."

     The public consultation report on the proposed introduction of offences of voyeurism, intimate prying and non-consensual photography of intimate parts and related offences can be downloaded from the website of the Security Bureau (www.sb.gov.hk/eng/special/voyeurism/index.htm).