March 19, 2023, 10:45 GMT
Updated 12 minutes ago
Video Caption,
Watch: Sharing explicit images without consent is a ‘common’ problem
Reality TV star Georgia Harrison says she “lived in fear” that more footage of an explicit video shared without her consent would be released.
Her ex-partner, Stephen Bear, was jailed for 21 months after being convicted of voyeurism and sharing private sex videos online.
The 28-year-old said seeing the images on subscription site OnlyFans was “the last straw” for her.
Ms Harrison said she feared Bear would sell even more footage.
He had used CCTV cameras in his garden to capture them having sex, then sent her to a friend and sold the video online – to which she had not consented.
A six-minute clip was uploaded, but the original video was 20 minutes long.
Ms Harrison told the BBC on Sunday with the Laura Kuenssberg show that she knew some people were “seeing all of this” which was “much more difficult” for her.
“I lived in fear that he would sell more,” she added.
Ms Harrison – who waived her right to anonymity – brought criminal proceedings against Bear, whom she met on a reality show, in December 2020.
She said the process of going to court was difficult but “empowering”.
“I just felt like it was the only option. I had been pushed so far, and before I saw the video had gone viral on the internet, several men had told me that they had shown it to them” , she said. .
Bear was given a restraining order not to contact Ms Harrison, who has appeared on Love Island and The Only Way Is Essex, for five years.
He was also ordered to sign the Sex Offender Register and will be subject to notification obligations for 10 years.
Legend,
Stephen Bear has been jailed after being found guilty of voyeurism and leaking private photos and films of a sexual nature
The incident ‘took away a kind of innocent spark’ from Ms Harrison and made it difficult for her to trust others, she said.
While her case has ‘shocked the British public’, she said incidents like this are in fact ‘such a common thing’ and that she receives messages from at least five women going through a similar situation every day. .
“Since this happened to me, I have become a person to whom victims reach out, and I receive at least five women a day – usually victims but sometimes mothers of victims or family members who want advice,” she said.
“You just wouldn’t believe how important this is and how many people are affected by it.”
Ms Harrison said she ‘enjoys making a difference’ through her work as an activist on this issue and would be interested in getting involved in politics.
When asked if she would like to become the next prime minister, she joked: “We won’t insist.”
Sharing explicit footage without consent – also known as non-consensual pornography or image-based sexual abuse – was made illegal in 2015.
An amendment to the law was created in 2021 which also made it an offense to threaten to disclose private sex images and films.
However, it can be difficult to convict alleged perpetrators, due to the law requiring the intent behind the posting of photos and videos – either to cause distress or embarrassment.
Ms Harrison calls on the government to remove the requirement to prove intent from the law.
“I think if you share explicit images or videos without consent, it’s very obvious that it will cause distress.
“If they were to change it and remove it, I think a lot more victims would have a chance to get justice, like I did,” she said.
