Arden Academic Invited to Important Law Commission Event

Arden University’s Programme Leader for Psychology, Dr Matthew Hall, was invited to join a specialist panel of scholars at the Law Commission’s Intimate Image Abuse Research Roundtable, which was held on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

The panel, on June 23, discussed the law surrounding the taking, making and sharing of intimate images, with the aim to propose changes to the current English and Welsh legislation.

Discussions were held on the nature of sexual and intimate images, what constitutes consent, possession, and the distribution of such images.

Matthew was chosen as he has published extensively on the topic.

He said: “Given the increasing prevalence of intimate image abuses in the UK and across the globe, it’s incredibly important that scholars and policymakers work together to develop legislation that acts as a deterrent and secures convictions for perpetrators."

Other members of the roundtable discussion included academics from institutions across the UK and Australia and Finland.

The Law Commission is the statutory independent body created by the Law Commissions Act 1965 to keep the law of England and Wales under review and to recommend reform where it is needed.

Dr Hall’s publications include, but are not limited to: Revenge Pornography: Gender, sexuality and motivations (2017); “This is my cheating ex”: Gender and sexuality in revenge porn, Sexualities (2019); Revenge pornography and manhood acts: A discourse analysis of perpetrators’ accounts, Journal of Gender Studies (2019); Violation by sexual image distribution, “revenge pornography”, cyberabuses, and prevention, for the International Centre for the Prevention of Crime (2018). 

In addition to these co-authored publications with Jeff Hearn, he has also contributed to House of Commons Select Committees.