Denmark seeks harsher punishment for 'revenge porn'

Denmark presented Friday a series of measures to curb "revenge porn", the sharing of nude pictures or videos of people online without their consent, including raising the penalty from six months to two years in prison.

"Nude photos of ex-lovers are being shared online to a shocking extent," Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said on his Facebook account.

"The victims get scars on their souls which they have to bear for the rest of their lives," he added.

The posting of nude or explicit pictures without that person's consent is dubbed "revenge porn".

In Denmark, 17 percent of men and 13 percent of women aged 15-25 have had nude photos of themselves shared or published online, according to government figures.

However, there's no data on how many of those have been published without their consent.

The Danish government's proposals -- presented by the ministers for justice, gender equality and education -- also include informing victims of what to expect when they report their case to the police.

Traffickers earning money by selling naked images or exchanging them in chat rooms will also face harsher penalties.

The government also said it would launch a study on youth's perception of gender, body, sexuality and digital behaviour, as well as an education and awareness programme in schools.