The BBCIn October, business coach Rebecca Amin opened her laptop to join a video call while her children played in the next room. When her male client turned on his camera, Rebecca was shocked to see that she was standing naked from the waist down.
“It was disgusting,” she says, “I felt violated.”
Rebecca decides to report the crime to the local police, believing that what happened on screen at her home in Surrey was no less serious than if it had happened in person.
But she was disappointed with the response of the police. This prompted the man – who had contacted Rebecca to request career coaching – to be calling from India, and the police told him that they would keep the details of the incident on file, but that they would do little. could
Rebecca is one of several victims of obscene calls and lewd displays from strangers, who have told BBC News that police are failing to properly investigate and dismiss their experiences. has been
The women contacted the BBC. After the report highlighted the failures of the two forces When dealing with reports of malicious, sexualized phone calls.
Some victims of “non-contact sex crimes” — crimes that do not involve physical contact between the perpetrator and the victim — say they, like Rebecca, have been left feeling disenfranchised.
Jess Phillips, the Minister for Protection, has told the BBC that any suggestion that police and prosecutors are not taking these crimes seriously is “unacceptable”.
Police chiefs say not all victims get accurate results when their cases are investigated and admit some forces have failed.
Rebecca posted about what had happened to her on the social media platform LinkedIn and was shocked when five women, who are also business coaches, reached out to say they had seen a man using the same profile. Have a similar experience with .
He also contacted the platform that hosted his video calls. They told him they could provide an IP address for the person that would identify his device and provide information about his geographic location, should the police request that information.
But despite providing police with the names and contact details of other victims and contacting them on a video hosting platform, Rebecca never heard from them again.
“It felt like they washed their hands of it,” says Rebecca. “It made me feel like it’s not something they can be bothered to pursue, or it’s not important enough.”
But she feared that this crime could be a prelude to something far more serious.
“I told the police, ‘My concern is not just what he’s doing to me and other women through the screen, but what he’s doing locally – that’s not enough for him anymore. – to any person to whom he has physical access.'”
Surrey Police only contacted Rebecca again after BBC News contacted her for a response.
In a statement, the force said it had provided Rebecca with an apology and an update, but said the delay in investigating her case was “much less” than she should rightly have expected.
“We intend to approach every investigation with care and service,” he said, “and we fully accept that we did not do so in this case.”
Surrey Police say Rebecca’s case is now being investigated further.
‘Police don’t see the threat posed by criminals’
In 2020, 83-year-old Barbara Marsden told her daughter, Sally, that a servant visiting her home in Lancashire had indecently exposed himself to her.
Sally says her mother told how the man allegedly showed her his penis.
CCTV outside Barbara’s home showed the worker unzipping her trousers and then pulling them up.
Sally, a lawyer, reported the incident to the police, but while the officer assigned to the case was helpful and proactive, she believes the system let her mother down.
“It was very frustrating,” says Sally. “It felt like I was running a case.”
By the time police decided to conduct a video interview with her mother – four months later – Barbara, who has dementia, was unable to recall the details of what had happened.
Seeley says she also had to do research to find the suspect’s address, and convince prosecutors why they shouldn’t drop the case.
The trial dragged on for more than three years, causing Seeley to worry that the man’s crimes might escalate.
“He targeted a frail old man in his own home… Was he going to do something bad?
“I don’t think there’s any recognition of the fact that people who flash are actually more likely to do more serious things,” says Seeley. “The police don’t see the danger that the criminal poses.”
In a statement, Lancashire Police told the BBC they had received a report of an indecent exposure in 2020 and had launched an investigation. One man was arrested and charged, but was later acquitted after a trial, he said.
He added that a review found that the service provided was acceptable.
The man accused of indecently exposing himself to Sally’s elderly mother was later convicted in a separate case of making indecent images of a child.
‘He was making obnoxious noises’
Former Victims’ Commissioner Dame Vera Baird told the BBC that violence against women and girls needed to be a high priority for the police.
Speaking to BBCR4’s Today programme, she said: “There’s been a push to get rid of the idea of history that it’s some sort of anti-social behavior and a nuisance and just to look away.”
Dame Vera reiterated the widespread nature of “non-contact sex offences”, saying that while it can happen online, it still happens “in your own home”. He added: “You wonder if he knows you or where you live. In the street, it’s the same thing; it’s on someone’s mind.”
Laura Burns was vacationing in Spain with her family in October 2021 when she received an anonymous phone call. The person on the other end of the line called Lara by her name and then made obscene noises and comments.
This was not the first time he had received such a call. A few months ago there was a similar call. She had rejected him then – but this time she couldn’t.
“I definitely got that block,” Lara says. “It was in the middle of the day — making hateful noises and talking about hateful things.”
Lara, who is from Stevenage and has a teenage daughter, says she felt threatened and worried the man might have her address, so she reported the calls to Hertfordshire Police. .
“I started thinking, ‘Is this someone who knows me from work? Is this someone who just found me online?'”
Lara was interviewed by a police constable, had a more detailed conversation with another officer, and was then handed over to Victim Support.
“I remember feeling quite violated,” Lara says.
She no longer felt safe going out at night and was sent a rape alarm by Victim Support.
But she says she has heard nothing more from Hertfordshire Police.
Lara says the incident had a lasting negative effect on her and believes the police could have done more to investigate.
Hertfordshire Police told the BBC they were unable to trace the origin of the calls and had tried to contact Lara several times without success, before writing to her to say They “will not be able to take the investigation any further”.
The force said it had “followed all appropriate lines of inquiry into crimes of this nature”.
If you’re affected by issues with this story, help and support are available through BBC Action Line.
Jess Phillips says she’s sorry some victims have had bad experiences.
“To suggest that non-contact sex crimes are not serious is not tenable,” she says. She acknowledges that police resourcing is an issue, adding: “Violence against women and girls is a strategic priority for policing – it’s not an optional extra.”
The National Police Chiefs Council says it is working to improve the way such crimes are investigated and prosecuted.
“We know there are cases where the police response has been poor and the outcomes for victims have not been good enough.”