Conversation

Since revelations about the history of Wayne Couzens’ offending, flashing is being taken a little more seriously as a sex crime by media and politicians. But why has it taken the kidnap, rape and murder of a woman by a serving police officer for flashing to be seen as a problem as opposed to a joke? Double child killer Colin Pitchfork raped and strangled to death two 15-year-old girls in the 1980s, and when arrested, confessed to police that he had exposed his penis to more than 1,000 girls and women over the years. Pitchfork was paroled last year.

Feminist activist Sandra McNeill decided to research the effects of flashing on women for her Masters degree in I982. The timing was perfect: the Labour government had plans to decriminalise it. McNeill had been involved in the Women's Liberation Movement (WLM) since the 1970s and saw exposure as part of a continuum of male violence towards women. It should be noted that McNeil’s work from almost 40 years ago is still some of the only work that focuses from a feminist perspective on the effects of flashing on women.

By concentrating the victims’ experience, McNeill found that they routinely felt frightened, humiliated and degraded. The uncertainty as to what these men could do next means that women frequently think of rape and death.

Research among those convicted of serious sex offences shows that many had previously committed what were considered to be minor offences such as exposing or voyeurism. In one study it is estimated that 80 per cent of rapists began with non-contact behaviour. Not all those who expose are serious sex offenders, but there is a clear link between exposure and other sex crimes within a significant number of these men.

Flashing: Why is it treated as a joke? by Julie Bindel

When men expose their genitals to women and girls, what is the message? And the effect?

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