W heck do you come up with the idea of photographing strangers sunbathing or taking a sauna on the beach? The latter happened to two women in July last year. The perpetrator confessed to the crime. His cell phone was confiscated by the police. On it: more photos of women who were obviously photographed unintentionally. However, he was not prosecuted criminally. Because there is no law that protects people in saunas from voyeuristic recordings.
In an interview with the WALNUT Federal Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig (SPD) now suggested such recordings – better known as “Peeping Tom Photos” – to be banned in the future. No matter where you come across this message, it is immediately followed by: “But it is very important that this does not mean casual photography.”
First of all: Such a law would be desirable. But it doesn’t go far enough. Because “casually taking photos” of strangers is also a problem – it serves as a popular excuse for the opposite.
Sure, everyone knows that you take a picture of yourself and your loved ones and other people are accidentally captured in the background. That may happen. But if you look around social media today, you’ll notice that images of people in extremely intimate poses are increasingly being captured there.
Shock, anger and horror spread
Insta and Tiktok feeds are full of people picking their noses, kissing couples or homeless people who give the impression that they were anything but casually photographed. And many of the pictures don’t look as if the people being photographed gave their consent to them.
Anyone who has ever been photographed or filmed upskirt – or experienced any part of their body being visually captured without consent on the subway or on the street – knows what it can feel like: shock, anger and horror spread throughout the body.
Although “upskirting” and “downblousing” – i.e. filming up the skirt and into the cleavage – are now punishable, these bans do not go far enough either, as they only protect certain areas of the body.
In addition, there is hardly any protection under criminal law for those affected by unauthorized recordings in public. This was shown not least by the incident which the jogger Yanni Gentsch made public last year. A cyclist filmed her butt for minutes while she jogged. She confronted him. He didn’t have to answer to the law either – because there wasn’t one.
The state is not always the best contact for those affected by sexism
For those affected, this means: If they want to take legal action against perpetrators, they have to do so under civil law and bear the procedural risk themselves. So if you have the courage to confront perpetrators, if in doubt you will be insulted or with a “Yes, even if you walk around like that!” If you think about it, you end up running the risk of being stuck with legal costs.
A general ban on unauthorized photos in public would solve this problem. And also clarify the question raised above: How the hell do you end up taking photos of people in public without their permission? Sexist attitudes and a penchant for voyeurism are likely to motivate this, but also simply the knowledge that, if in doubt, you can get away with it with impunity.
It is also clear that for those affected by sexism, the state is not always the best contact when it comes to demanding justice. And even a ban on voyeuristic recordings in public will not completely prevent them. But the debate about it can change the collective consciousness about such acts: that they are anything but okay and, in fact, condemnable.