Indecent Exposure - United Kingdom

United Kingdom

In England and Wales, the offence of "indecent exposure" and other sexual offences were replaced by the more specific and explicit Sexual Offences Act 2003. The Act does not mention nudity as such and is worded so as not to apply to skinny dipping, nude sunbathing, and similar activities. Current laws apply only to genital exposure with intent to shock those who do not want to see them. The maximum penalty is two years' imprisonment, but this is extremely rare as most cases are dealt with by a fine.

The situation in Northern Ireland is complex as some parts of this Act apply but others do not and the Assembly is considering new legislation.

Under Scots law, public indecency is covered by Crimes of indecency. A bill with more repressive wording is currently proposed .

Read more about this topic:  Indecent Exposure

Famous quotes containing the words united and/or kingdom:

    “The white American man makes the white American woman maybe not superfluous but just a little kind of decoration. Not really important to turning around the wheels of the state. Well the black American woman has never been able to feel that way. No black American man at any time in our history in the United States has been able to feel that he didn’t need that black woman right against him, shoulder to shoulder—in that cotton field, on the auction block, in the ghetto, wherever.”
    —Maya Angelou (b. 1928)

    “A box of teak, a box of sandalwood,
    A brass-ringed spyglass in a case,
    A coin, leaf-thin with many polishings,
    Last kingdom of a gold forgotten face,
    These lie about the room....”
    —Philip Larkin (1922–1986)