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Digital Exploitation of Women and Girls
27 January 2026
Lead MP
Mark Hendrick
Preston
Lab/Co-op
Responding Minister
Jess Phillips
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Word Count: 9178
Other Contributors: 14
At a Glance
Mark Hendrick raised concerns about digital exploitation of women and girls in Westminster Hall. A government minister responded.
Key Requests to Government:
The Government should facilitate legislation to address digital crimes such as non-consensual sharing of images and stalking through technology.
How the Debate Unfolded
MPs spoke in turn to share their views and ask questions. Here's what each person said:
Lead Contributor
Online abuse and digital exploitation targeting women and girls is growing into a market where legislation lags behind technological advancements. In Lancashire, half of the surveyed women experienced unwanted or inappropriate messages online, but only 12% reported it to authorities. Digital tools are used in intimate partner abuse and coercive control.
Hitchin
Stresses the importance of proactive action against tech firms, quicker legislative processes, and ensuring services cannot be used to enable abuse. Discusses a case where a woman fleeing domestic abuse faces challenges due to publishing requirements for planning applications.
Amanda Martin
Lab
Portsmouth North
Portsmouth residents live much of their lives online, but this has brought new forms of abuse such as deepfakes and image-based sexual offences.
Carla Lockhart
DUP
Upper Bann
Online pornography remains an issue that needs to be tackled as 50% of young boys aged 11 to 13 have already seen porn, shaping their minds about what consent is.
Dawn Butler
Lab
Brent East
Agreed that consent is vital and supported Sir Mark Hendrick's call for balancing free speech with responsibility to prevent digital exploitation of women and girls. Supports the call for women being stalked to know who their stalker is and highlights the need for consistent guidance for all police forces.
Jas Athwal
Lab
Ilford South
Highlights foreseeable harm in technologies like Meta’s smart glasses used to secretly film women without consent and calls for proactive regulation and enforcement of safety by design.
Jess Phillips
Lab
Birmingham Yardley
Stressed the importance of enforcing age verification for pornography and highlighted Ofcom's enforcement actions, including issuing fines and changes in company roles to meet UK laws. Discussed education initiatives and government investments in the violence against women and girls strategy.
Jim Shannon
DUP
Strangford
Emphasised the need for digital safety measures and education on image-sharing risks, suggesting a role for the Department for Education in teaching young people about these dangers.
Joe Morris
Lab
Hexham
Discussed the case of Holly Newton, a 15-year-old victim of technology-facilitated abuse leading to murder, highlighting the need for reform in recognizing domestic violence under age 16.
Lola McEvoy
Lab
Darlington
Called for urgent regulation to protect girls from harmful online content and suggested banning stranger contact and unregulated self-published content for under-16s. Asked for elaboration on definitions of 'social media' and 'ban'. Suggested making evergreen legislation rather than listing specific examples.
Chelmsford
The Internet Watch Foundation discovered 3,440 AI videos of child sexual abuse in 2025, a vast increase on the previous year. Digital abuse and exploitation are overwhelmingly targeted at women and girls.
Michelle Welsh
Lab
Sherwood Forest
Welcomes the Government’s criminalisation of non-consensual intimate image creation but urges more emphasis on stopping predators, swift removal of such images from social media sites, and backing by legislation.
Richard Quigley
Lab
Isle of Wight West
Praises the debate's timeliness and importance in addressing sexual exploitation on social media platforms, stressing the need for strong legislation and enforcement against such actions.
Mark Hendrick
Lab
Preston
Briefly thanked the Minister for an excellent debate and expressed confidence that she is determined to ensure a safe digital space for everyone, particularly women and children.
Brighton, Kemptown
Welcomes the hon. Member's debate on upskirting and online abuse, stresses the importance of proactive measures against novel uses of technology that harm women and girls, calls for a dedicated online crime agency to tackle illegal content effectively. Questioned whether enforcement is lacking in current legislation.
Government Response
Jess Phillips
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department
Government Response
Discussed the challenges of keeping up with technological advancements and the need to find backstops and ways to make legislation more agile. Noted that it is a triumph of hope over experience to think current laws can ban harmful content immediately.
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About Westminster Hall Debates
Westminster Hall debates are a chance for MPs to raise important issues affecting their constituents and get a response from a government minister. Unlike Prime Minister's Questions, these debates are more in-depth and collaborative. The MP who secured the debate speaks first, other MPs can contribute, and a minister responds with the government's position.