The UK Press Complaints Commission announced earlier this month that it has released new “guidance” for reporting on sexual offenses.
According to the announcement, the PCC’s director, Stephen Abell, emphasized the importance of allowing sexual assault victims have anonymity.
The advice is published here and is in response to “a number of complaints” in the past year over newspapers’ reports on sexual offenses.
According to the standards, newspapers can publish the names of the defendants but must be careful to not provide “jigsaw identification” of the sexual assault victim. “Jigsaw identification” is defined as when “different pieces of information appear in different newspapers allowing readers, who have seen these reports, to work out who the victim is.”
Also included in the standards: Journalists are advised against naming victims younger than 16.