More than 200 people prosecuted over 'revenge porn'
More than 200 people have been prosecuted for revenge porn since new laws to tackle the crime were rolled out, an official report has revealed.
The offence - which carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison - was introduced in April last year after calls from campaigners and victims.
Prior to the change, revenge porn cases had to be dealt with through existing copyright or harassment laws.
The annual report by the Crown Prosecution Service also revealed a spike in convictions for sexual offences against women.
A total of 12,000 defendants were prosecuted for sexual offences other than rape - a rise of 22.5% on the previous year and the highest volume on record.
The report showed that between April 2015 and March 2016:
Domestic abuse referrals from police fell slightly, but more than 100,000 defendants were prosecuted and more than 75,000 convicted - the highest volumes on record;
As of the end of March, five prosecutions were completed under a new domestic abuse law against coercive and controlling behaviour introduced in December;
There were record numbers of rape prosecutions (4,643) and convictions (2,689);
Nearly 12,000 defendants were prosecuted for sexual offences other than rape, a rise of 22.5% on the previous year and the highest volume on record;
Child sexual abuse prosecutions rose by 15.4% from 5,387 to 6,217, with convictions up 16.8% from 3,975 to 4,643.
Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders said that they were seeing a growing number of abuse cases involving the internet or other technology.
The report also showed there were 53 prosecutions "flagged" as forced marriage, with six in ten of those leading to convictions.
However, in the period covered by the report there were no successful prosecutions under a specific forced marriage offence, which was introduced in 2014.
Rachel Krys, co-director of the End Violence against Women Coalition, said the increase in prosecutions showed more women were seeking justice.
She added: "But it is still the case that the majority of women and girls subject to these crimes do not report them to the police and the specialist services which support them are fighting for survival."
Polly Neate, chief executive of Women's Aid, said survivors of domestic abuse were starting to have more confidence in the criminal justice system, but added: "We know that much more work is still needed, particularly in understanding of the nature and impact of coercive control, right across the criminal justice system."