Clare McGlynn

McGlynn was born in Scotland, in 1970. At the age of 18 she moved to England to begin a degree in law at Durham University. After graduating in 1991, she went on to study at the College of Law, completing her Law Society Final Examinations in 1992. Following this she returned to Durham University as a teaching fellow. It was at Durham University that she completed her Master of Jurisprudence in 1996. In 2004 she was promoted to Professor of Law, and remains highly active in academic research and teaching. She was a member of the university's Taskforce on Sexual Violence and the university's governing body, University Council. McGlynn was also a member of the REF2021 Law Assessment Panel which reviews all UK legal research. McGlynn's career also extends beyond academia. From 1993 to 1995 she trained as a solicitor with Herbert Smith Freehills, qualifying as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales in 1995. In 2013 McGlynn played a key role in the success of a campaign to criminalise rape pornography in England and Wales. She was a trustee of Rape Crisis Tyneside and Northumberland from 2009 to 2019. == Work on image-based sexual abuse ==

McGlynn's research (with Erika Rackley) developed the concept of image-based sexual abuse to describe all forms of the non-consensual creation and distribution of private sexual images, including 'revenge pornography' and upskirting. This term is now used internationally to describe these forms of abuse and McGlynn's research has shaped law reform campaigns across the world. McGlynn’s research recommends criminalising the creation, solicitation and distribution of ‘deepfake pornography’. She has advised organisations such as HateAid on law reform options and recommends replacing the term ‘deepfake porn’ with ‘sexual digital forgeries’ which better reflects the nature and harms of this abuse. In 2019, McGlynn published a report with colleagues "Shattering Lives and Myths" drawing on interviews with over 50 victims and stakeholders which was launched in Parliament at a roundtable chaired by Maria Miller MP and attended by many victims, criminal justice organisations, women's support groups, MPs and members of the House of Lords. Her work has played a key role in national debates, including in ITV News, and in legislative debates in the House of Lords. She has given evidence before the Scottish Justice Committee on proposed reforms in Scotland, recommending a new law focusing on the harms of victims, not the motives of the perpetrators, as well as giving presentations and evidence to policy-makers across Iceland, Ireland and Australia. In 2022, her evidence before the Northern Ireland Justice Committee influenced news laws on upskirting which go further than English law, supporting the campaign by two women teachers who were upskirted by a male school pupil to change the law. McGlynn and her colleagues argue that 'revenge pornography' should be recognized as a form of sexual assault, that it should be seen as part of a pattern of sexual violence, along with other forms of image-based sexual abuse, and subject fully to the criminal law. In particular, she and her colleague criticized the legal loophole which meant that upskirting was not fully covered by the criminal law in England and Wales. In November 2019, she was invited to South Korea to share international best practice in supporting victims of image-based sexual abuse and she has worked with Facebook, TikTok and Google to support their policies on non-consensual intimate images. Cyberflashing McGlynn’s research was influential in the adoption of the new criminal offence of cyberflashing – sending penis images to someone without their consent. She gave evidence before the UK Parliament to recommend changes to the Online Safety Bill which introduced the new offence. Her book with Kelly Johnson Cyberflashing: recognising harms, reforming laws was published in 2021 and is the first comprehensive study of the nature, harms and prevalence of cyberflashing. It identifies the gaps in the criminal laws of a range of countries and makes recommendations for reform. McGlynn regularly speaks to the media about cyberflashing, as well as supporting the campaign by dating app Bumble to raise awareness and change the law. Her testimony before the Northern Ireland Assembly led Justice Minister Naomi Long to introduce a cyberflashing offence in Northern Ireland. Sexually violent pornography McGlynn and colleagues published one of the largest studies to date of online porn finding that 1 in 8 titles on mainstream pornography websites described sexual violence. This research featured in the New York Times article by award-winning journalist Nick Kristof which directly led to PayPal removing its services from XVideos. This research has formed the foundation for many legislative reforms and policy campaigns. It was cited in the English Children’s Commissioner’s research report on pornography and young people and cited in a report from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on VAWG. It has been cited before select committees of the Canadian Parliament and the UK Parliament, as well as in the first report from the House of Lords Communications and Digital Committee on free speech. It has been used in the submissions of civil society organisations to government consultations in Australia by Collective Shout and the UK by the End Violence Against Women coalition. It is influencing how the EU regulates the largest porn platforms and social media. It was a key piece of evidence used by Baroness Benjamin and Baroness Jenkin of Kennington during the passage of the Online Safety Act to justify restrictions on pornography as well as being included in briefings by Barnardos. == Influence on changes to pornography law ==

Incest porn McGlynn’s research recommends strengthening the extreme pornography law to cover incest porn. She expands on this in her blog in The Conversation. Criminalising rape pornography Possession of "extreme pornography" was made illegal in England and Wales under Section 63 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. However, the definition of extreme pornography within this Act does not include depictions of rape. McGlynn and her colleague Erika Rackley argued that criminal sanctions against rape pornography can be justified on the basis of the cultural harm of the material. In 2013, McGlynn and Rackley played an instrumental role in the campaign to introduce an amendment that would make possession of rape pornography illegal in England and Wales. The campaign was successful, with Prime Minister David Cameron announcing in July 2013 that the law would be amended to make possession of rape porn illegal. McGlynn and Rackley wrote of their support for these reforms, whilst also recommending further clarifications to prevent unwanted consequences, such as the criminalisation of consensual BDSM activity. The change to the law was incorporated in the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 which updated the definition of extreme pornography to involve porn which depicts acts of rape in an explicit and realistic manner. Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights reviewed the bill and endorsed McGlynn and Rackley's argument that cultural harm provides a strong justification for criminal sanctions. The committee also endorsed their view that the extreme pornography laws are human rights enhancing. with Dr Hannah Bows found that most prosecutions under the extreme pornography legislation are for possession of bestiality images. Scotland McGlynn and Rackley informed the debate on rape and extreme pornography in Scotland. Their research supported Rape Crisis Scotland's campaign to include depictions of rape in the definition of extreme pornography, and their argument for cultural harm was discussed in the Scottish media. McGlynn and Rackley's argument for including rape in the definition of extreme pornography was endorsed by the Scottish Parliament's Justice Committee. The new legislation was introduced in section 42 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010. == Sexual history evidence in rape trials ==

McGlynn’s work on the use of sexual history evidence in rape trials has influenced policy reform and public debates. In 2017, she undertook a comprehensive review of this area of law, particularly examining the controversial Ched Evans case where the complainant's sexual activity with men other than the defendant was allowed at trial. == Restorative Justice ==

Restorative justice and sexual violence McGlynn and her colleagues Nicole Westmarland and Nikki Godden published the UK's first evaluation of the use of restorative justice in a case of sexual violence. Restorative justice conferences involve a victim and perpetrator meeting, along with a trained facilitator, to discuss the impact of the perpetrator's crimes. McGlynn and her colleagues interviewed the people involved in the conference, and concluded that restorative justice could be beneficial for victim survivors of sexual violence, but only if he or she is given the highest level of support prior to and throughout the process. Similarly, in a study published in the British Journal of Criminology they found police using ‘out of court settlements’ in many domestic abuse cases, against police best practice guidance. A research policy briefing on this research is available here. Sentencing and sexual offences In 2011, Kenneth Clarke, then Minister for Justice, proposed increasing the sentencing discount awarded to defendants who plead guilty to a maximum of 50%. Public debate on this idea was impossible due to his comments made at the time of the announcement about some rapes being more serious than others. McGlynn argues that early guilty pleas may save some victims the trauma of pursuing a case through to court. == Work on diversity in the legal profession ==

In 2024 McGlynn was appointed by His Majesty the King to the Judicial Appointments Commission. Established by the Constitutional Reform Act 2005, the Judicial Appointments Commission plays a major constitutional role in appointing an independent and diverse judiciary. This appointment reflects Professor McGlynn’s long-standing commitment to encouraging greater equality and diversity in the law and legal profession and follows her appointment as an Honorary KC (King’s Counsel). The Woman Lawyer Professor McGlynn is a leading advocate of the need to improve equality and women’s representation in the legal profession. Her first book The Woman Lawyer: Making the difference was published in 1998. As the first book-length study on the representation of women in the UK legal profession, it became a key reference point in debates surrounding diversity in legal contexts. In the book, McGlynn chronicles women's experiences throughout the legal profession, from law school to the judiciary. She combines her own empirical research and statistics with personal testimonies from women legal academics, lawyers and judges. Whilst it had already been established that women academics in various departments faced financial disadvantage and indirect discrimination, in which she states that popular culture often equates the law with men and 'masculine' attributes. This view is perpetuated by the predominance of male lawyers in senior positions. Stereotypes which suggest that women are less objective or neutral than men can harm women's prospects in the legal profession, and the lack of women lawyers in higher positions can enforce these perceptions. == See also ==