The Verkhovna Rada Law Enforcement Committee supported the draft law on the decriminalization of porn

Author:
Iryna Perepechko
Date:

The Law Enforcement Committee of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine supported as a basis draft law No. 12191 on the decriminalization of porn.

This was reported by Yaroslav Zheleznyak, a member of the Peopleʼs Deputy from the Holos faction.

11 officials voted in favor, two more abstained.

With this bill, parliamentarians want to amend Article 301 of the Criminal Code so that adults who film and distribute intimate videos are not imprisoned for 3-5 years.

The bill states that criminal liability will remain exclusively for:

  • non-consensual porn (revenge porn, deep fake);
  • extreme porn (violence, zoophilia, necrophilia);
  • child pornography and distribution among children (here, according to Zheleznyak, the peopleʼs deputies, on the contrary, want to strengthen criminal liability).

Zheleznyak previously emphasized that pimping, involvement in prostitution, and human trafficking will remain criminal offenses.

  • In July, Peopleʼs Deputy Dmytro Hurin told Babel that the Prosecutor Generalʼs Office gave him data on such cases for three years. In 2022, there were 897 registered criminal cases, in 2023 — 964, and in the first half of 2024 alone — 979. That is, the number has doubled.
  • A similar bill to decriminalize porn was registered back in August 2023. Zheleznyak says that the new bill, registered in November of this year, is more conservative — it was prepared for over a year in discussions with the committee and working group.