People who share explicit images without consent can be jailed for up to two years under new laws that came into effect in the UK on Monday.

See also: Victims of revenge porn now have a dedicated helpline to call

The new law means that sharing explicit images via text, email, social networks and messaging apps without the consent of the person in the photo is now an offence. It also covers the sharing of photos offline.

The law, which is part of the Criminal Justice and Courts Act, makes revenge porn a specific offence. Up until now prosecutors had to prosecute cases using existing laws such as the Communications Act, Malicious Communications Act, and the Protection from Harassment Act.

The law "covers images that show the genitals but also anything that a reasonable person would consider to be sexual, so this could be a picture of someone who is engaged in sexual behaviour or posing in a sexually provocative way," the Crown Prosecution Service has said.

The clause added to the Criminal Justice and Courts Act says: "It is an offence for a person to disclose a private sexual photograph or film if the disclosure is made (a) without the consent of an individual who appears in the photograph or film, and (b) with the intention of causing that individual distress."

In November 2014, a man who shared explicit photos on WhatsApp of his ex-girlfriend was jailed for 12 weeks. He became the first person in Britain to be prosecuted for posting revenge porn.

Luke King, 21, posted the intimate image of his former girlfriend as the profile photo on his WhatsApp account. He was prosecuted under existing laws.

Earlier this year, the UK government launched a dedicated helpline for victims of revenge porn. The helpline, a pilot programme, works with law enforcement and media companies to remove content where possible.

Other laws that came into effect Monday, which are also in the Criminal Justice and Courts Act, include increasing maximum prison terms for Internet trolls to two years and making possession of extreme pornography that depicts rape illegal.