Georgia Harrison is calling on the UK government to “do more” to protect revenge porn victims.
Earlier this week, Stephen Bear was found guilty of disclosing a private sexual film featuring his ex Georgia.
The Ex On The Beach star was arrested by police at Heathrow Airport in January 2021, after he was accused of sharing an alleged sex tape of Georgia back in 2020.
The reality star denied voyeurism and two counts of disclosing private, sexual photographs and films – but was found guilty of all charges in court on Tuesday.
The jury at Chelmsford Crown Court reached unanimous verdicts on both counts of disclosing private sexual photos and films with intent to cause distress.
It also returned a majority verdict of 10 to two on the count of voyeurism.
Bear has been bailed until January 31st, and will return to the same court for sentencing after a report has been prepared about him.
In a new interview with The Sun, Georgia said she is now determined to help other people affected by what she has been through.
She said: “At the time the tape first came out I had about three women a day contacting me saying it had happened to them.”
“Now it is around two to three a week. I’ve even had women coming up to me in the street in tears. Revenge porn is a crime that affects so many people.”
“We are living in a time where so much of our lives and our children’s lives are spent online and it is so important that individuals are protected in the virtual world just as they are in reality.”
“Social media has given us the egalitarian belief that we are all publishers but what it hasn’t done is regulate what we should responsibly publish.”
“I am calling on the government to do more to hold social media companies to account. They need to help people who fall victim to this and act quickly to help them.”
“These videos ruin lives and the social media companies are the ones who are profiting off it. This has to change,” Georgia added.
Since 2015 in England and Wales, it has been an offence for someone to share a private sexual image or video (online or offline) of someone without their consent and with the intention of causing them distress.
Under Section 33 of the Criminal Justice and Court Act 2015, this offence is punishable by up to two years in prison.
In February 2021, the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020, known as Coco’s Law, criminalised the non-consensual distribution of intimate images in Ireland.
If you are a victim of intimate image abuse or would like to report illegal content encountered online, you can now do so via hotline.ie.
