Page 188 - Law and the Media

Reporting Restrictions
The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1976 and the Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act
1992 (together ‘the Sexual Offences Acts’) are applicable only to England and Wales. The
prohibition applies to all written and visual media that publish in England and Wales.

The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1976 applies to:

Rape
Attempted rape
Aiding or abetting either of the above
Conspiracy with intent to rape, and
Burglary with intent to rape.

The Sexual Offences (Amendment) Act 1992 applies to:

Indecent assault on a man or woman
Buggery and assault with the intent to commit buggery
Incest by a man or a woman
Intercourse with a girl under the age of 13 or between 13 and 16
Intercourse with or procurement of a mentally handicapped person
Indecent conduct towards a child
Procurement of a woman by threats or false pretences
Administering drugs to obtain intercourse with a woman
Incitement by a man of his granddaughter, daughter or sister under the age of 16
to commit incest with him, and
Attempts to commit any of the above offences.

There are special rules relating to cases involving incest and buggery; that is to say, if the
victim of an offence of incest or buggery is accused of the same offence, he or she will only
have anonymity up to the time he or she is accused of such an offence.

9.7.2 Levels of protection

The Sexual Offences Acts provide that anonymity runs from the time the complaint is first
made. However, there is a distinction on the reporting restrictions between the time of the
first complaint and the time the defendant is accused. The Sexual Offences Acts provide that
from the moment when an allegation has been made that a sexual offence has been
committed neither the victim’s name nor address nor a still or moving picture of that person
may be published during their lifetime if it would be likely to lead members of the public to
identify him or her as the victim. The prohibition applies irrespective of whether or not
criminal or civil proceedings follow. The prohibition applies to a victim of male rape.

Once a person is accused of a sexual offence, no matter likely to lead members of the public
to identify a person as the person against whom the offence is alleged to have been
committed can be published during the victim’s lifetime. This means, for example,
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