Upskirting became a specific criminal offence on 12 April 2019, when the Voyeurism (Offences) Act 2019 added it to the Sexual Offences Act 2003.
KCSIE 2026 lists upskirting in three places:
- as a form of child-on-child abuse all staff should know about (Part one, paragraph 37)
- as something the school's child protection policy should cover (Part two, paragraph 193)
- as an example of sexual harassment (Part five, paragraph 540)
Because it is an offence, it shouldn't be dismissed as a prank. KCSIE paragraph 530 asks schools to challenge behaviour such as lifting up skirts, and warns that tolerating it risks normalising it.
If staff learn of an incident, they should tell the DSL. If an image exists, it may be an indecent image of a child, so staff shouldn't view, copy, forward or delete it; the approach in the UKCIS advice on sharing nudes and semi-nudes applies. The DSL decides the response, which may be managing it in school, a referral to children's social care, or a report to the police.
Support the pupil who was targeted, and treat the pupil who did it as needing a safeguarding response too.