Britain plans to ban "upskirting" — secretly taking pictures up women's skirts — under a new law being debated in parliament yesterday that would impose prison sentences of up to two years. "This behaviour is a hideous invasion of privacy which leaves victims feeling degraded and distressed," junior justice minister Lucy Frazer said, giving the government's backing to the draft law put forward by opposition lawmaker Wera Hobhouse.

People convicted of "upskirting" would be placed on the sex offender register once the law is approved by parliament. Some instances of "upskirting" are currently prosecuted under existing public decency and voyeurism laws, but campaigners said not all instances were covered by existing criminal law.