Cyberflashing Is a Crime — Naturism Is Not Consent
Naturism asks society to understand something very simple: nudity is not automatically sexual.
That distinction is fundamental to how we live.
A person may be comfortable naked,
participate openly in naturist life, attend social events, use online community spaces or communicate freely with other naturists. None of those things gives somebody else permission to sexualise them, send sexual material or cross their boundaries.
The same principle applies to clothing.
For generations, phrases such as “she was asking for it” have attempted to move responsibility away from an offender and towards the person they targeted, as though clothing, confidence, friendliness, behaviour or appearance somehow invited sexual misconduct, harassment or criminal behaviour.
It did not.
What somebody wears is not consent. What somebody does not wear is not consent.
Naturism is not consent.
Cyberflashing is a criminal offence
In England and Wales, cyberflashing is specifically criminalised under section 66A of the Sexual Offences Act 2003. The offence was introduced through the Online Safety Act 2023 and came into force on 31 January 2024.
The offence applies where somebody intentionally sends, gives or shows another person a photograph or film of genitals and either intends that the recipient will see it and experience alarm, distress or humiliation, or does so for sexual gratification while being reckless as to whether the recipient will experience alarm, distress or humiliation.
Pornographic or sexually explicit material may fall within that offence where the statutory requirements are met. Other unwanted sexual or intimate material may engage different offences depending on its content and circumstances. The Sexual Offences Act also contains separate offences concerning the sharing or threatening to share intimate images without consent.
This is not an obscure problem at the margins of internet behaviour. In June 2026, Ofcom reported that 36% of women under 40 had received an unsolicited sexual photograph from someone who was not their partner, while one in twelve women had received one during the previous year. Ofcom also reported that women are nearly three times more likely than men to experience this behaviour.
Those figures deserve attention.
Our standard is deliberately unambiguous
The criminal law necessarily contains detailed tests concerning intention, recklessness and evidence.
A community does not need to wait for a criminal threshold before deciding what respectful behaviour looks like.
For Naturism Wales, the safeguarding standard is straightforward:
If somebody has not expressed explicit consent, there is no consent.
Not “I thought they’d like it.”
Not “I assumed they wouldn’t mind.”
Not “We’re both naturists.”
Not “They were friendly with me.”
None of those statements describes consent.
They describe assumptions.
Assumption is not consent. Hope is not consent. Friendliness is not consent. Nudity is not consent. Consent requires agreement.
The criminal offence of cyberflashing has its own statutory requirements, and whether an offence has been committed is ultimately a matter for investigators, prosecutors and, where appropriate, the courts.
But somebody claiming afterwards that “I thought they’d like it” does not manufacture consent that was never expressed.
Our community standard is therefore deliberately clearer:
Do not guess at consent. Obtain it explicitly.
Freedom of expression does not transfer responsibility
The same principle matters when we consider the deeply entrenched culture of victim-blaming.
The phrase “she was asking for it” remains perhaps one of its most familiar expressions.
It attempts to suggest that clothing, confidence or behaviour somehow transfers responsibility for another person’s misconduct.
It does not.
Choosing particular clothing is an expression of personal freedom.
Choosing not to wear clothing is also an expression of personal freedom.
Neither gives somebody else sexual entitlement.
For naturists, that distinction should be especially clear because naturism demonstrates something society still struggles to understand:
A person can be visible without being available.
Freedom of expression is not an invitation to victimisation, whether somebody is textile or naturist.
Criminal responsibility remains with the person who chooses the criminal behaviour.
If it happens, report it
One of the most useful points in current police guidance is that you do not have to build a case before reporting cyberflashing.
Police.uk specifically states that you do not need to gather screenshots, photographs, messages or videos before making a report.
You simply need to explain what happened. Even if an image has disappeared, police advise reporting it because investigators may still be able to recover the material.
If information is already available, useful details can include the sender’s name, username or user ID, the platform or app involved, when the incident happened and details of what was sent, written or spoken.
There is one particularly important safeguard.
If you are not certain that the person depicted in an intimate image is over 18, do not screenshot, record or share it — even with the police. Police.uk warns that doing so could itself constitute a criminal offence.
Instead, report what you saw and allow investigators to advise on how the evidence should be handled.
Cyberflashing can be reported online or in person at a police station. Information can also be given anonymously through Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. If somebody is in immediate danger, call 999.
Where material was sent through social media or another online service, report the account and content to that platform as well.
Blocking somebody may protect you from further direct contact.
Reporting them may help protect somebody else too.
Police.uk warns that people who cyberflash can go on to commit more serious offences and specifically states that a report could help prevent this.
If a child or young person is involved
Where online sexual behaviour involves somebody under 18, there is an additional safeguarding route.
CEOP — the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command of the National Crime Agency — exists to protect children and young people from online sexual abuse, exploitation and grooming. CEOP defines a child as anyone under 18.
Children and young people can report directly to CEOP when something sexual has happened online that has made them feel unsafe or concerned. Parents, guardians and other concerned adults can also report where they believe a child is being sexually abused or groomed online.
Concerns can include grooming, coercion or blackmail involving children, sexual abuse and the creation or sharing of sexual images involving a child.
If a concern has already been reported to police or children’s social care, CEOP advises that a duplicate report through its Safety Centre is generally unnecessary. If a child is in immediate danger, call 999.
Report an online sexual-abuse concern to CEOP
Reporting is not an overreaction
There can still be a tendency to minimise behaviour because it happened through a screen.
It was only a picture.
Just block them.
Forget about it.
But a boundary does not become less important because somebody crossed it digitally.
Police.uk recognises that somebody subjected to cyberflashing may experience anxiety, fear, distrust or a sense of violation. It also acknowledges that some people may not feel alarmed or distressed at all.
There is no prescribed emotional reaction somebody must demonstrate before their experience deserves to be taken seriously.
One report may also reveal something the recipient could never know: that the same person, username, telephone number or account has behaved similarly towards other people.
That is why reporting matters.
The standard Naturism Wales represents
Naturism Wales is increasingly providing opportunities for people to connect — physically through events and socially through real-time chat, voice and video communication.
Safeguarding develops alongside those opportunities.
Our expectations travel with the community.
Integrity matters. Dignity matters. Consent matters. Respect matters.
And nobody should be made to feel unreasonable for reporting behaviour that crosses their boundaries.
Naturism Wales represents more than the minimum threshold required for criminal prosecution. We represent a culture in which acceptance, kindness, respect, dignity, integrity and consent are embedded in everyday practice.
That means refusing to transfer responsibility from an offender to the person they targeted.
It means understanding that being comfortable with nudity says absolutely nothing about somebody’s willingness to receive sexual attention.
And it means being prepared to report behaviour when boundaries are crossed.
Because naturism is about freedom.
Genuine freedom includes the freedom to decide what happens to our bodies, how others interact with us and what sexual communication we choose to receive.
That is why our safeguarding standard is deliberately unequivocal:
If explicit consent has not been expressed, there is no consent.
And perhaps the principle beneath all of this is even simpler:
Never confuse another person’s freedom with permission for your own behaviour.
What more can we do, individually and collectively, to make consent, dignity and responsible reporting unmistakable standards of naturist life in Wales?
Further reading
Police.uk — Cyberflashing
Police.uk — Reporting cyberflashing
Crown Prosecution Service — Rape and Sexual Offences Prosecution Guidance
CEOP Safety Centre
Ofcom — protections against unwanted sexual images
