Upskirting is the act of secretly or surreptitiously photographing underneath a woman’s dress or skirt. Because upskirting often occurs in public places, laws prohibiting the practice have been challenged on the ground that the victim does not have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

Laws regarding upskirting behavior—including photographing or videotaping a person in a bathroom or changing room—vary from state to state. In some states this conduct is prosecuted as a criminal offense under invasion of privacy, voyeurism, unlawful surveillance, surreptitious recording, disorderly conduct, or public lewdness statutes—depending on the state and its current laws.

Upskirting and the related criminal offenses for which upskirting may be prosecuted are located in a state’s statutes—often in the penal or criminal code.

In New Mexico, upskirting is considered a criminal offense and is addressed under the state's statutes concerning voyeurism and privacy. Specifically, New Mexico law prohibits voyeurism, which includes the unauthorized creation of visual images of another person without their knowledge and consent when that person has a reasonable expectation of privacy. This includes photographing or videotaping a person's intimate areas in situations where the person would not expect to be observed. The act of upskirting would fall under this prohibition and can be prosecuted as a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the circumstances, such as the age of the victim and the perpetrator's criminal history. The relevant statutes can be found in the New Mexico Statutes Annotated (NMSA), particularly in the sections dealing with criminal sexual offenses and privacy.