This article was originally written in 2020 and has been updated to reflect the latest news around Georgia Harrison's revenge porn case.
Georgia Harrison has spoken in parliament this morning about her experience of revenge porn. Talking to MPs on the Women And Equalities Committee, Harrison described the way a sexually explicit video of her was shared on social media as spreading like a 'house fire'. Harrison's ex-boyfriend, reality star Stephen Bear, was convicted of voyeurism and two counts of revenge porn against her in 2022, sentenced to 21 months in prison.
'It absolutely horrified me that an individual had done this to me but what most horrified me was that these platforms were hosting these videos that were unconsented,' Harrison said. 'For many that I tried to reach out to, I got an automated response saying we will get back to you within four to six days. When something like this is happening it really is like a house fire and the quicker you can put it out, the quicker you can stop it. Unfortunately, in four to six days your house has burnt down, everyone knows about this video - your family, your workplace, your peers, it's too late.'
Harrison says social media companies should be easier to contact in situations such as hers, and that a real person should be on the other end of the phone. 'It shouldn't be robots that you get through to when it's this important a situation, it shouldn't be that hard to get through to someone,' she explained.
Georgia also said that the ordeal made her physically ill, ending up in hospital for five days over Christmas because of stress. 'I ended up having a cyst burst and I got an infection and literally it was just like my body deteriorated with my emotions,' Harrison said, noting that she still has 'a lot of fear' after being victim to revenge porn, particularly when meeting new people and with the prospect of starting a family.
'I know whenever I'm dating, meeting new people going into any sort of a new work opportunity, I am known as the person who has this sex tape which I never ever filmed and never consented to be out there,' Harrison explained. 'So it changed a lot for me and it definitely gives me a lot of fear for one day, if I do have a family, which is something that was always my intention, are my children going to be able to stumble across this footage?'
Georgia Harrison's revenge porn case explained:
In 2022, Bear was sentenced to 21 months in prison after being found guilty of voyeurism and two counts of revenge porn against Harrison. Bear shared explicit footage of Harrison on his OnlyFans without her consent in 2020, and after taking him to court, Harrison was granted record damages of £207,900 - the highest ever sum awarded in an image abuse case. In a statement, the reality star said she will be donating part of the damages to 'multiple charities that have helped support me and other victims of image-based sexual abuse.'
Recounting the moment she discovered that Bear had posted 'a screenshot of him on top of me in his garden' on OnlyFans, she told The Sun she felt 'violated'. 'He put the caption as something along the lines of: "Sign up now for 50 per cent off to see me f***ing this b**ch in my garden." It made me feel so violated. All I’ve ever done was be good to him as a friend, and as more.' In court, jurors were told that Bear has earned £40,000 from OnlyFans, and more than £2,000 from the video in question.
Harrison opened up further about her revenge porn experience in an ITV documentary, Revenge Porn: Georgia vs Bear. The behind-the-scenes drama of the trial was captured for the documentary, showing the heartbreaking years that Harrison - who waived her right to anonymity to speak out about her ordeal publicly - spent fighting for justice.
And all the while, she was subject to intense victim-blaming and character assassination by Bear. Bear has always denied all charges against him, but a jury found him guilty of voyeurism and two counts of disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress.
The ordeal started in 2020, when Harrison first heard about a sexually explicit video of her being shared among friends and online.
‘Bear has CCTV around his house,' Harrison said on Instagram in an emotional video. 'He purposely got me in a position where he knew it would be on CCTV quite a long time ago, and after [he] acted like he forgot the cameras were there. Since being away [on holiday] I have met two more people he has shown and even seen a screen recording, so I have no other choice but to go public about this situation. Not just for me, but for anyone that has been round there not knowing they are being filmed.'
'I feel hurt, I feel violated, I feel embarrassed, but I also feel like my friends and followers will support me through this and I can't stay silent on the matter any longer,’ she concluded. Despite appearing strong as she condemned Bear's actions, she admitted how upset she was in a later video, showing how she cried on the phone to her friend over the situation.
Bear denied the allegations, telling The Sun 'I don't even want to talk about it - it's so silly. I've spoken to the girl saying stop making up silly rumours. Everyone's just got to calm down. People saying someone's name for clout, it's just dumb.' Over two years later, Stephen Bear was given a guilty verdict.
Appearing in Chelmsford Crown Court, Judge Christopher Morgan ruled that Harrison had suffered 'extensive humiliation and embarrassment' and that her future employment has been 'seriously affected' by Bear's actions, adding that she had 'spoken with dignity and courage.'
Found guilty, Bear spent 10 and a half months in prison and was released at the beginning of January 2023. But despite the pain Harrison has shared online, people still continue to search, in droves, for the video. ‘Bear and Georgia Harrison leaked video' is still a popular search term everytime Harrison trends online, as well as 'Stephen Bear CCTV’ and ‘Georgia Harrison leaked reddit’. While some might have just been searching for latest updates on the story, the nature of the search terms say many were actually hoping to watch the video for themselves.
It has happened consistently since Harrison went public with her experience, to the extent she had to go on Instagram urging people to stop searching for the video.
‘To anyone sending around the creepy video Bear filmed without my consent and sold online, think about your sisters, mothers, daughters, girlfriends and take a second thought before you press send, 'cause you’re as bad as he is,’ Harrison said at the time. ‘I’ve already had to get it removed from websites, so have some respect and stop sending it around WhatsApp groups. Bear, you are truly evil.’
Have some respect and stop sending it around WhatsApp groups.
According to OnlyFans, Stephen Bear's account was deactivated as soon as possible because they say it was a breach of their terms of service. A representative for the platform told Grazia they adopt a zero tolerance policy if they think there has been any violation of their terms.
Throughout the case, Bear continued to make a mockery of the situation - from turning up to court in a rented limozine to donning fur coats. As a society, we shouldn't allow that vile behaviour to be reinforced and by continuing to share the video or search for it, you are doing just that. So, it’s important to remember that regardless of who might send you this video, watching or continuing to share any explicit videos that a woman didn't consent to filming is abhorrent.
The past few years, millions of women watched their worst nightmare play out through Georgia Harrison's story. Seeing the video shared and commented upon, despite Georgia's pleas to stop, we witnessed the world turn her pain into tabloid gossip, perpetuating the culture of revenge porn by thriving off the drama of it all. Situations like this make all women feel unsafe. We should be able to feel comfortable having sex with our partners in the privacy of someone’s home. We shouldn’t fear that explicit videos of us will end up online - never mind the two years of agony rehashing the trauma again and again to achieve some kind of justice.
Only when we all work together to stop people spreading these videos and hold those responsible for leaking them to account can we avoid that. So stop searching for it, start supporting Georgia and never, ever share it.
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