Today we're happy to welcome a guest poster to talk about a new, free legal service in BC to assist those who have had or are being threatened with having their intimate images shared without their consent. Keep reading to learn more about the services available:
Stand Informed Legal Advice Services (Stand Informed), operated by Community Legal Assistance Society (CLAS), offers free, brief legal advice to anyone in British Columbia who has experienced sexual assault. While helping clients, Stand Informed identified the rising issue of the sharing of intimate images of people (i.e “nudes”) without their permission (or consent).
In 2020, Statistics Canada reported an 80% increase in incidents reported to police of intimate images being shared without the consent of the person in the images, compared to the previous five years.
To help individuals learn about their legal rights and options, Stand Informed is providing free, brief legal advice to anyone in British Columbia whose intimate images have been shared without their consent through the Intimate Images Legal Advice Project. This service can help answer questions such as what you can do if someone shares intimate images of you without your permission or threatens to share these intimate images with everyone you know unless you give into their demands. This is a pilot service available until March 2025.
What Are Intimate Images?
Intimate images are private images where the person who is in the images expects they will be kept private. Intimate images include:
- Nude or near-nude selfies, photos, videos, livestreams and digitally altered images and videos (“deepfakes”).
- Images taken in a sexual context (e.g. nude or nearly nude selfies or sex-tape), or non-sexual context (e.g. a public or private bathroom)
- They may or may not show the person’s face or even identify the person.
What Are Some Examples of Sharing Intimate Images Without Consent?
There are many forms of non-consensual intimate image sharing. You might be familiar with cases of revenge porn, sextortion, voyeurism, leaked “sex tapes”, intimate partners forwarding images from sexting to their friends in messenger apps. There is also an increasing issue now of AI generated “deepfakes”.
What is the Intimate Images Legal Advice Project?
The Intimate Images Legal Advice Project provides up to 3 hours of free, confidential legal advice to anyone in British Columbia who has experienced the sharing (or threat of sharing) of their intimate images without their consent. Our lawyer will explain your rights and the legal options available to you.
Who can apply for the legal service?
You may be eligible if you live in British Columbia, and someone has shared or threatened to share your intimate images that you expected would be kept private without your consent. You do not need to know the person who shared your intimate images to access this service. There are no age restrictions. You do not need to report to the police to use our services.
How does it work?
You can contact us by calling 604-673-3143 or Toll-free 1-888-685-6222, or emailing standinformed@clasbc.net. You can also fill out the application for legal services and email it to us.
Our lawyer can explain what you can expect in a legal process and answer your questions. For example, our lawyer can:
- Let you know your legal options;
- Tell you what to expect in a civil law process if it is an option (i.e. a lawsuit);
- Explain what to expect in a criminal law process if you make a complaint to the police;
- Provide information on how to protect your privacy in legal process;
- Find out if there are other legal issues you may need help with; and
- Help connect you supports and resources.
What is our approach?
Stand Informed staff and lawyers are trained to take a holistic, trauma-informed approach to assist you. This means we understand that what you have experienced is traumatic, and we see you as more than just your legal issue; you are not defined by what happened to you. What you decide to do is completely up to you.
Contact us or visit our website to find out more.