Photo of husband posted on Facebook group with allegation - legalities?

[Hattie24]

Earlier I was alerted to a post by a woman on our town’s community Facebook page. It is a rant about a flat in her block being used by a group of prostitutes which is causing issues at unsociable hours and how the landlord isn’t doing anything about it. Under this there are photos of various men at the entrance of the block of flats and one of them is my husband. The insinuation is that these have all been visiting that flat.

I want to know the legalities of this woman posting such an allegation as she is outright refusing to remove the post. It is obviously extremely humiliating for me (friends and no doubt colleagues have seen it) and there’s so many comments underneath. We’ve been on a ‘break’ due to various issues but still living together and haven’t been intimate for nearly a year so I don’t need a lecture on how I shouldn’t have married such a man.

Is it me or is someone putting up a post like this without any thought for the consequences on various families etc utterly disgusting?

Ok then complain to the police or take them to court but at no point did Op say in her post that her husband hadn’t been visiting prostitutes only that it was embarrassing.

I was really making a more general point that there is not a blanket prohibition on publishing photos of identifiable individuals as many seem to imagine.

It is more accurate to say that arguably in this case publishing photos of men visiting a brothel in order to deter other men from visiting could be a legitimate interest & hence legal.

That's on him, nobody else.

That sounds like a lot of hard work to work out who her partner is and follow him on the off-chance that he goes somewhere 'dodgy'.

What this woman did wasn't actually personal to you. She took a photo of men who don't live there entering the block of flats where a group of prostitutes live and work. That happened to include your husband.

I think that your husband and his mates will manage to cobble together enough 'evidence' to convince you that his mate lives in that block of flats and, coincidentally, he does some physiotherapy on the side.

Is that what passes for 'wit' these days? It's fucking pitiful. Woman who is concerned about men visiting prostitutes who work out of her block of flats is just jealous because she wishes she had been trafficked and forced to have sex with disgusting men.

Sorry but I can’t even with this….

Your husband has been outed as a dirty prostitute user and your issue is with the person who posted the photo?

I think she’s the least of your problems!

You know he’s guilty. He’s not even made any real attempt to cover it up apart from the physio excuse that could be proven if it was true via his ‘club’. We know that no such evidence will be produced and he is lying.
I am sure you love/loved him and don’t want any upset to anyone BUT the bigger picture is that most sex workers are there under duress or have mental health and drug problems. He is guilty and must live with the consequences now. It will blow over of course but I would leave him - AND leave HIM to deal with the removal of his image. This is not your job.

So easily sorted, your dh tells you the name of and flat number of the physio right now as he must know those details, no delaying tactics, and you reply to the woman to say my dh was visiting John the physio in flat 15 and she will be able to confirm with residents and will remove the photo. This will also give you an independent validation of your dh's account of why he was there.

All sorted in an hour.

It it turns out your dh is lying he deserves the public shaming and you can direct your anger at the right person.

He really doesn't deserve a public shaming. It isn't up to any Facebook busy body to be posting other people's pictures with accusations.

Running a brothel is a crime.
Anti social behaviour is a crime.
Soliciting is a crime.

People who don't want others to find out they have sex with prostitutes could always try ...not having a sex with prostitutes

IF he has been seeing prostitutes imo he does, but you don't need to agree with me any more than I need to agree with your view.

I also think if the "busy body"' and fellow residents quality of life is being impacted by a brothel in their block of flats they are quite right to try to do something about it.

As I said, for the OP, it is very easy to be quickly validated and fixed if she wants to know the truth.

I get why this is a problem for you and your family. But its him that has been disgusting not her.

Me thinks the “busy body” and her fellow residents may have done what they set out to do and will now see the decrease in footfall they wanted 👍

We know that but it doesn't make it right that his photo, taken outside the block where the prostitutes are believed to work, is posted on social media. I think that is despicable. Unless these women and their clients really are causing a nuisance, it's nobody's business and it is certainly unfair to the op and her family.

Thankfully, according to the op, commenting on the photo has been suspended so it will fade away and, for her sake, I hope nobody who knows her and her husband saw it.

It is actually. How will his children feel having this plastered all over Facebook. It’s humiliating.

Not all prostitutes are trafficked and vulnerable, stop letting them off the hook, they don't care about you and that they're charging your husband to sleep with them (although the husbands are much more to blame for being desperate/daft enough to pay them)

It would be if anybody saw it and said anything to the children but I doubt that would happen. However I have great sympathy with the op and think the woman who posted the photo is awful to do that.

Which ones aren't trafficked and/or vulnerable? Do you know? Does this man? Does anyone man? No.

If Daddy hadn't possibly been visiting a brothel their humiliation wouldn't be an issue

How will they feel knowing their dad exploits women? One can only imagine.

We don't have evidence that the husband is doing anything, it's speculation based on gossip and a photo.

However I agree with most of what you say, we cannot jump to the conclusion that all prostitutes are trafficked.

It's not uncommon for sex workers to travel to different cities every so often and see clients in a flat, usually by arrangement. That would explain three or four women, often different ones, They also put on accents to defer questions.

It could be deemed harassment as he could be targeted as a result of the post. He should contact the police on 101 to report it.

If it’s different women every few weeks with limited English i hope someone is reporting this via the modern slavery/trafficking hotline. Sounds like the women could be trafficked.

So you think posting something of community concern on a community Facebook page is “utterly disgusting”, but you’re not “utterly disgusted” that your “husband” is using sex workers? If anyone brought shame and embarrassment to the wife and children, it was him. He did that all himself and didn’t even need the help of a Facebook post.

Just stop it with the physio story. You’re making yourself look even more ridiculous than you already are.