Almost 100 cases have been prosecuted since new legislation was introduced making the sharing of, or threatening to share, intimate images without a person’s consent a crime.
The Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act, also known as Coco’s Law, was enacted in 2021.
A review published on Friday by Minister for Justice Helen McEntee found the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions had taken a total of 99 cases between its commencement and the end of 2023. This included a total of 23 cases prosecuted on indictment in the Circuit Court.
The number of charges issued by An Garda Síochána had risen. In 2021, there were 22 charges brought. In 2022, that rose to 95, and in 2023 it rose again to 113.
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“Sharing an intimate image of someone without their consent is an abhorrent form of sexual abuse and a serious crime,” Ms McEntee said.
The legislation was needed given “the prevalence of this crime” and the penalties – up to seven years in prison and an unlimited fine - were high “to reflect the seriousness of the offences and the damage and hurt they cause”.
“While this review concludes that it’s too soon to make sweeping generalisations, particularly as it can take some time for cases to proceed through the system, it’s heartening to see the legislation’s positive impact three years after commencement,” she added.
The Department of Justice partnered with Hotline.ie to provide a reporting mechanism for victims of intimate image abuse. The hotline can serve any online service provider with an intimate image abuse notice to remove the content.
Between September 2021 and December 2023, almost 1,500 reports were made to the hotline which, after assessment, were found to be intimate image abuse. Some 1,006 of these were images or videos shared without the person’s consent via publicly accessible web locations and the hotline was able to get 92 per cent of them removed.
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- Between September 2021 and December 2023, almost 1,500 reports were made to risr
