The British Board of Film Classification says the current climate led it to make serious changes to rating films with sexual violence.

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The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) has announced a major change to the way it assigns ratings to films featuring scenes of rape and other forms of sexual violence. According to The Guardian, films with scenes of sexual violence will no longer be assigned a rating less than 15s, which means only films suitable for moviegoers 15 years and older will contain rape scenes. The BBFC said the change was a result of a shift in public opinion over the last five years.
“The feedback we have had from the public during the current consultation is that they don’t think there is any place for depictions of sexual violence at 12A at all,” said Craig Lapper, the head of compliance at the BBFC. “The key message from the guideline consultation was heightened concern about sexual violence across the board. Although we operate very strict standards around sexual violence there was an appetite on the part of the public for us to be even more cautious than we are at the moment.”