The maximum sentence for the offence is two years' imprisonment and in the more serious sexual cases those convicted are added to the Violent and Sex Offender Register.

[7] The Labour Party backed her petition, which attracted over 58,000 signatures, to make the practice of upskirting illegal under the Sexual Offences Act.

[8] A freedom of information request revealed that between 2015 and 2017 there were 11 charges related to upskirting in England and Wales, but that only 15 out of 44 police forces held specific relevant records.

On 6 March 2018, Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse presented a private member's bill to the House of Commons in support of Martin's national campaign.

[20] Clare McGlynn, a law professor at Durham University, said that by being returned to the House of Commons for debate, Hobhouse's bill could now be amended and "future-proofed" to include penalties for creators of deepfake pornographic images.

McGlynn said that the bill as drafted had "placed too high a burden of proof on prosecutors because they had to show that a picture was taken for the purposes of sexual gratification or to cause distress" when "the unfortunate reality is that these things are often done 'for a laugh'.