Gina Martin is a British political activist and author. She is known for her case to make upskirting illegal in England and Wales, which resulted in the

Voyeurism (Offences) Act 2019 The Voyeurism (Offences) Act 2019 (c. 2) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which amends the Sexual Offences Act 2003 to make upskirting a specific offence of voyeurism. The Act came into force on 12 April 2019. Provisions For t ...

. Martin also authored a book, ''Be the Change: A Toolkit for the Activist in You'', and rejected a nomination for an award of an

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

in 2020.

Activism

In June 2017, Martin was attending the British Summer Time Festival in

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

when she discovered that a man had taken a picture of her underwear from under her skirt. She took his phone to the police, who told her the act wasn't illegal and therefore they couldn't take any action. After posting about the incident on Facebook, her story went viral and an online petition was started to reopen her case. The petition received more than 100,000 signatures, and Martin began campaigning to change the law with pro-bono representation from associate lawyer Ryan Whelan of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP. Martin campaigned while working a full-time job, and received a large amount of online harassment, including hundreds of

rape threat A rape threat is a threat made against another person of rape or sexual assault. Rape threats may often be made anonymously or online through the use of social media, and especially against social media influencers. These threats are often made ag ...

s. In March 2018, along with Gina and Ryan, MP

Wera Hobhouse Wera Benedicta Hobhouse ( von Reden; born 8 February 1960) is a German-British politician. A member of the Liberal Democrats, Hobhouse has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Bath since 2017 and serves as the Liberal Democrat Shadow Leader of t ...

tabled a Private Members Bill to make upskirting a criminal offence. The bill was blocked on second reading by Conservative MP

Christopher Chope Sir Christopher Robert Chope (born 19 May 1947) is a British barrister and politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Christchurch in Dorset since 1997. A member of the Conservative Party, he was first elected in 1983 for ...

. In response, The Ministry of Justice backed the anti-upskirting campaign by tabling a Government bill that was eventually approved by the House of Lords in February 2019 and the

came into force in April the same year. Since her campaign, Martin has written for

Grazia ''Grazia'' (; Italian for ''Grace'') is a weekly women's magazine that originated in Italy with international editions printed in Albania, Argentina, Australia, Bahrain, Bulgaria, China, Croatia, Colombia, France, Germany. Greece, Indonesia, I ...

, The World Economic Forum, The Guardian,

Glamour Glamour may refer to: Arts Film * ''Glamour'' (1931 film), a British film * ''Glamour'' (1934 film), an American film * ''Glamour'' (2000 film), a Hungarian film Writing * ''Glamour'' (magazine), a magazine for women * ''The Glamour ...

, and

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

, and in June 2019 published a book on activism titled ''Be the Change: A Toolkit for the Activist in You''. Martin is also an ambassador for

UN Women The United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, is a United Nations entity working for gender equality and the empowerment of women. UN Women advocates for the rights of women and girls, and focu ...

. She hosts a radio show called ''Gina's Gamechangers'' on

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that broadcasts mainly news, sport, discussion, interviews and phone-ins. It is the principal BBC radio station covering sport in the United Kingdom, broadcast ...

, and the podcast ''Might Delete Later'' with her sister Stevie Martin. In 2019, Martin was included in the BBC's 100 Women list, and the ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

100 Next'' list as well as Stylist Remarkable Women Gamechanger Award and Disruptor of the Year at the Cosmopolitan Magazine Influencer Awards. Martin worked pro-bono for model Nyome Nicholas-Williams to campaign against

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

's nudity policy after the platform was accused of censorship for deleting images of Nicholas-Williams from the site while retaining similar images of white women, resulting in an official change to their nudity policy on breast squeezing. Martin rejected an offer to be nominated for an

in 2020, writing on Twitter that it would be "deeply hypocritical" to accept the honour "while continuing to be vocal in my commitment to anti-racism and understanding the deep and unsettling race issues

the British empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts esta ...

has built into the foundation of our country and many others” and cited concerns about the "violence and oppression" of the British Empire.

Personal life

Martin is originally from

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Gina Living people British activists British writers British women podcasters People from Liverpool Year of birth missing (living people) BBC 100 Women