Search Results - McGlynn, Clare

Clare McGlynn

Clare Mary Smith McGlynn (born 1970) is a Professor of Law at Durham University in the UK and leading expert on violence against women and girls and gender equality. She advises governments, civil society and social media platforms regarding online and image-based sexual abuse, and works closely with survivors to strengthen the law. In 2020, she was appointed an Honorary KC (King's Counsel) in recognition of her role influencing law reform and advancing equality. In 2024 His Majesty The King [https://judicialappointments.gov.uk/clare-mcglynn/ appointed]McGlynn to the Judicial Appointments Commission, which is responsible for selecting judges in England and Wales. McGlynn has also served as a member of the UK Parliament's [https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/standards-and-financial-interests/independent-expert-panel/panel-members/former-panel-members/ Independent Expert Panel], hearing appeals in cases of sexual misconduct, bullying and harassment against Members of Parliament. 

McGlynn specialises in the legal regulation of pornography, image-based sexual abuse (formerly known as revenge pornography), cyberflashing, online abuse, violence against women, and gender equality in the legal profession. She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Lund University, Sweden, in 2018 in recognition of the international impact of her research on sexual violence and she is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. She is a member of the Council of Europe’s Committee of Experts on Combating Technology-Facilitated Violence against Women and Girls. Her active role in supporting women and girls led to her being named as an ‘outstanding’ advocate by Glamour magazine on International Women’s Day 2025.

She extensively contributes to national and international media and public debates, regularly being interviewed on the UK’s flagship political programme BBC Radio 4 Today, as well as BBC Woman’s Hour, breakfast TV, Channel 4 News, and all mainstream media. Her expert opinion is featured in many documentaries including BBC Panorama 'The Secret World of Trading Nudes’, the controversial Channel 4 documentary with Vicky Pattinson ‘My Deepfake Sex Tape’, German national TV’s ZDF documentary on deepfake porn and in Austria, the NZZ programme ‘Fake Porn, Real Victims’.

She has written op-eds for the Independent, Daily Express, the Irish Journal, the Huffington Post, and the New Statesman. Her [https://theconversation.com/deepfake-porn-why-we-need-to-make-it-a-crime-to-create-it-not-just-share-it-227177 commentary] on criminalising ‘deepfake porn’ in The Conversation has been widely translated.

Her research and advocacy has been instrumental to the introduction of new laws tackling online and image-based sexual abuse. McGlynn played a key role in the campaign to criminalise creating sexually explicit deepfakes (‘deepfake porn’) in England and Wales, and was part of the coalition that secured a change in the Online Safety Act 2023 to require guidance on [https://www.endviolenceagainstwomen.org.uk/campaign-win-new-online-safety-bill-guidance-to-tackle-abuse-of-women-and-girls/#:~:text=Violence%20Against%20Women-,CAMPAIGN%20WIN!%20New%20Online%20Safety%20Bill%20guidance%20to,abuse%20of%20women%20and%20girls&text=Today%20(30th%20June%202023)%20the,and%20girls%20using%20their%20platforms. violence against women and girls]. She was central to Rape Crisis London's campaign to 'close the loophole' that makes possession of rape pornography lawful in England and Wales. The campaign was successful, and an amendment to include rape in the definition of 'extreme pornography' was incorporated into the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015. Provided by Wikipedia