Identify place and date
Start with where conduct occurred, where people were located and when it happened. Online conduct may involve more than one place.
Do not assume a summary for England and Wales applies unchanged in Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Separate the legal questions
Consent, injury, recording, possession, sharing, harassment, stalking and safeguarding may engage different rules.
A community term or private agreement does not decide legality.
Use authoritative routes
Use current legislation and official prosecutorial or regulator guidance for orientation.
A solicitor or specialist service may be needed for evidence preservation, deadlines, reporting choices and personal risk.
Check the actual provision
Start with the nation, date and exact conduct. England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have different sexual-offences frameworks. A current web page may include a provision that was not in force on the event date.
Separate agreement to an act from injury, recording, possession and sharing. A community label or written agreement cannot settle these different questions. Read the extent and commencement of a statute before applying an England-and-Wales summary elsewhere.
For a specific case, a qualified solicitor can assess facts, evidence and deadlines. If someone is injured or in danger, care and safeguarding come first. This guide indexes questions, not a legal conclusion about a reader.
What to bring to legal advice
Note the location and date of each relevant act, the people involved, the exact conduct and any records that can be kept safely. Avoid posting identifying intimate material in a public forum. A solicitor can check applicable provisions, evidence and deadlines. A guide's national overview cannot substitute for that fact-specific work. If safety is urgent, seek support before assembling a complete account.
Consent and injury across nations
Agreement to one activity does not establish permission for another, for an injury, or for filming. In England and Wales, section 71 of the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 addresses consent to serious harm for sexual gratification. Northern Ireland has a related provision in section 27 of its 2022 Act; Scotland requires its own legal analysis.
The facts may include age, capacity, coercion, injury, withdrawal and the nature of the act. A written agreement or safeword does not make every consequence lawful. Do not use a broad statement that consensual adult activity is always legal or illegal.
Recent changes: the 2026 Act and online duties
The Crime and Policing Act 2026 received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026, but its provisions have different commencement dates and territorial extent. The intimate-image guide distinguishes sections 99–101, in force from 29 June 2026, from provisions not yet wholly commenced. Extreme pornography law explains the existing possession offences and the prospective section 104 for England, Wales and Northern Ireland and section 105 for Scotland. Non-fatal strangulation separates existing offences from those prospective image provisions. Section 134 on spiking was also prospective when checked on legislation.gov.uk on 3 October 2026.
The Online Safety Act age-check guide covers UK-wide duties already in force. R v Brown and the Spanner case explains an England and Wales injury-law judgment. Conditional consent and the Scotland comparison show why sexual-consent questions need the correct statute and nation. Check the live commencement note for each provision on legislation.gov.uk before applying it to an event. These guides are legal information, not legal advice.
Three criminal-law systems, four nations
England and Wales form one criminal-law jurisdiction for the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and the other statutes described below. Scotland has its own Parliament, criminal statutes, courts and Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. Northern Ireland has its own legislation, courts and Public Prosecution Service. A UK-wide online regulator such as Ofcom can sit alongside those distinct criminal laws. The first useful questions are where an act occurred, when it occurred and what conduct is alleged. A person’s home address alone may not answer a cross-border case.
For England and Wales, use legislation.gov.uk and current CPS guidance together. For Scotland, use the Scottish statute and COPFS; for Northern Ireland, use the Northern Ireland statute and PPS. A court case from one system may be informative but does not automatically rewrite another’s offence. Devolution, UK-wide extent and commencement are different concepts: a UK Parliament Act may contain sections applying to only some nations, and Royal Assent does not commence every section. This guide gives starting points and routes to detailed guides, not a verdict on a particular incident.
Consent: choose the correct statute
In England and Wales, section 74 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 defines consent as agreement by choice with freedom and capacity. It has been in force since 1 May 2004. Scotland’s section 12 of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 uses free agreement, with circumstances in section 13; the core provisions have been in force since 1 December 2010. Northern Ireland’s article 3 of the Sexual Offences (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 uses choice, freedom and capacity; the main provisions commenced on 2 February 2009. The offences, evidence rules and prosecution guidance remain nation-specific.
A person may set conditions and may withdraw agreement. Prior intimacy, a role or silence is not a standing permission. The Scotland and England/Wales comparison explains the statutory structures; conditional consent and stealthing examines a condom condition across all three systems. Where injury is involved, consent to sexual activity is a separate question from whether consent answers an injury charge. R v Brown explains that England and Wales case and its limits.
Extreme pornography and images of injury
Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 creates a defined possession offence in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, in force since 26 January 2009. Scotland’s section 51A of the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982 has its own test, in force since 28 March 2011. The law is about statutory elements, not whether a viewer casually calls something ‘extreme’. Other offences can apply to production or sharing even when the possession test is not met.
Section 104 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 would add a separate possession/publication offence for defined strangulation or suffocation pornography in England, Wales and Northern Ireland; section 105 is its Scottish counterpart. Both remained prospective on legislation.gov.uk when checked on 3 October 2026. Do not describe them as operative charges. The full possession-law guide explains the older categories, defences and these proposed additions without graphic examples.
Strangulation: separate the offence from medical risk
England and Wales’ section 75A of the Serious Crime Act 2015, inserted by the Domestic Abuse Act 2021, has been in force since 7 June 2022. Northern Ireland has a separate offence in section 28 of its 2022 Justice Act, in operation since 26 June 2023. Scotland applies its own assault and sexual-offence law; the other two provisions are not freestanding Scottish offences. The prospective 2026 image offences concern images, not the already operative conduct offences.
Breathing restriction needs urgent medical assessment after any event, even if there is no visible mark. Call 999 for breathing difficulty, collapse, severe symptoms or immediate danger; tell clinicians what happened. Do not wait for a legal opinion before seeking care. The full law and medical-risk guide gives the nation-specific provisions, warning signs and help routes, without any technique instructions. The impact-play guide addresses other injury and legal questions.
Intimate images: making, sharing and removal
England and Wales’ section 66B of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 addresses sharing or threatening to share intimate photographs or film without consent, inserted through the Online Safety Act and operative from 31 January 2024. Other provisions cover creating or requesting certain purported intimate images. Scotland and Northern Ireland have distinct intimate-image offences, so the England and Wales section number should not be quoted as a UK-wide rule. Recording, creating, possessing, threatening and distributing may engage different provisions and remedies.
The 2026 Act’s section 99 tool offence applies in England and Wales and commenced on 29 June 2026. Its section 100 48-hour systems duty for defined intimate-image reports amends the UK-wide Online Safety Act and also commenced that day. Section 98 has commenced only for specified purposes; section 102 remained prospective. The full digital-consent guide sets out the offence and commencement distinctions. The removal guide explains platform reports, the Revenge Porn Helpline, StopNCII and police choices.
Online Safety Act duties are UK-wide
The Online Safety Act 2023 regulates certain online services across the UK. Its Part 5 age-assurance duty for providers publishing their own pornography began on 17 January 2025; Ofcom says user-to-user services allowing it needed highly effective age checks from 25 July 2025. A click-through declaration alone is not the standard Ofcom describes. The duty belongs to an in-scope provider and an age gate is not an endorsement of every image behind it.
A report about a non-consensual intimate image invokes different duties from a routine age-check request. The amended 48-hour removal systems obligation is subject to statutory report and content conditions. The age-check guide explains the provider categories, assurance methods and privacy questions; the reporting guide explains what a person can do when an image circulates. Ofcom is the regulator, while criminal offences and police responses depend on the conduct and jurisdiction.
Spiking and time-sensitive support
Section 134 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 creates an express harmful-substance administration offence for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, but was prospective rather than in force when checked on 3 October 2026. Scotland has its own criminal-law routes; do not present section 134 as Scottish law. Existing offences may apply to conduct before its commencement. The legal status of a new provision does not change the urgency of care after suspected spiking.
Get to safety, call 999 for an emergency, seek medical advice and consider police reporting promptly if forensic options matter to you. Healthcare tests and police evidence collection serve different purposes, and a negative toxicology result does not prove nothing happened. The spiking guide explains symptoms, reporting, testing limits and the prospective offence. The consent and substances guide addresses support without assigning blame.
Use the hub to find the right next page
For a change across several topics, begin with the plain-English 2026 Act summary and then open the detailed guide for the relevant provision. Upskirting and voyeurism has its own offence history and a prospective 2026 amendment; workplace harassment is an employment-law issue with a Great Britain duty and a separate Northern Ireland position. Do not blend a workplace complaint, a police report and a platform takedown into one process.
Compare consent, consent to bodily harm, intimate-image offences and pornography literacy before applying a statute to a different subject.
Keep dates, URLs and messages if safe; avoid posting an image to a public forum for advice. For a specific allegation or charge, ask a solicitor in the relevant nation. The UK help directory, Rape Crisis services and Citizens Advice can help you find support. Call 999 if someone is in immediate danger. This hub is legal information, not legal advice; the provisions and statuses above were checked on legislation.gov.uk on 3 October 2026 and may change.