SCOTLAND’S justice system is failing the victims of upskirting after stark new figures revealed that only a handful of cases have been reported to the Crown Office.

Last month, the Herald on Sunday revealed a sickening surge in voyeurism crimes, with 547 recorded by police in 2022.

But new data obtained by the Scottish Liberal Democrats show that of those just 29 were passed on to prosecutors, slightly more than 5 per cent.

He said ministers need to close a loophole preventing upskirting cases from being reported to the COPFS.

The Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009 was amended in 2010 to make it illegal to take a picture or a film beneath a person’s clothing to observe their “genitals or buttocks (whether exposed or covered with underwear)” without their consent.

However, it has, for years, been little prosecuted. Between 2011 and 2018 there were, on average, just three prosecutions.

For a prosecution to be successful, the Crown Office must show that the image or film was taken for “the purpose of causing… humiliation, alarm or distress, or for the purpose of obtaining sexual gratification.”

Mr McArthur told the Herald on Sunday that the law needed to be reviewed: “We need the government to take these offences seriously. They compromise the safety and dignity of women and constitute a form of harassment that for too long has been ignored.

“The increase in the number of cases reported suggests that people are finally gaining the confidence to come forward and report these incidents. Yet the shockingly low number of cases being passed to the Crown Office indicates that perpetrators are still getting away with it.

“These figures should embarrass the government and certainly tarnish the SNP’s record when it comes to safeguarding victims of sexual abuse. Women and girls in this country should not be expected to endure such horrific violations.

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