Jarrow MP hosts event with Love Island star Georgia Harrison about the impact of revenge porn

Kate Osborne, the Member of Parliament for Jarrow, has hosted an event in Parliament on Wednesday, May 8, to highlight the impact that revenge porn has on victims.

The MP teamed up with Love Island star Georgia Harrison, who has been a victim of revenge porn, to give MPs an insight into the impact that it can have.

Georgia became a victim of revenge porn after her ex-boyfriend, Stephen Bear, posted CCTV footage of himself having sex with her on his OnlyFans account - without her consent.

Speaking at the event, Georgina gave MPs an insight into how she felt after she found out that the footage had been shared online and revealed the impact it had on every aspect of her life.

She commented: “I think it impacted me in every way that you can imagine. I always compare it to grief.

“I think you have to actually grieve a former version of yourself, you feel like you lose your dignity, you feel like you lose a lot of pride - there is so much shame involved in it.

“For the first few days, I was just going through waves of complete sorrow and shock.

“It got to the point where I was so emotionally affected by what happened to me that I ended up being physically ill to the point where I was in hospital for five days over Christmas.

“The stress took such an effect on my body that I ended up having a cyst burst and I got an infection - my body deteriorated with my emotions.

“It also had a huge knock on effect on my career because I went from a normal girl who works in television to someone who is now effectively in the porn industry, even though that was something I never wanted to be involved in.

“For about two years, so many brands retracted from working with me and it got to the point where I had to move out of my home and move back in with my mother for two years.

“So financially it took a massive hit to me but emotionally, it just took away a lot of my innocence and it changed the way I value myself as a person.”

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The Jarrow MP has praised Georgia for her bravery in sharing her story in the hopes that it will be able to help others going through something similar.

Ms Osborne commented: “I am disgusted by the revelation that loopholes in existing law have meant that thousands of websites containing intimate image abuse material cannot be removed from the internet - resulting in the victimisation of so many once again.

“I want to thank Georgia Harrison for coming in today and for giving evidence to the women and equalities committee. 

“The many MPs that attended all remarked on how impressed we all are by Georgia’s resilience and bravery sharing her story in order to help others.

“Today's Women and Equalities Committee should be a turning point to change the legislation to ensure it protects victims and to raise awareness about intimate image abuse and how we can all work together to tackle it as well as to ensure social media platforms are held responsible for their content and engage with StopNCII.org”

Stephen Bear was found guilty voyeurism and of two counts of disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress.

He was jailed for 21 months in March 2023 before being released from prison early in January 2024, having served 10-and-a-half months behind bars.

Bear has been ordered to pay back the £22,305 he made from sharing the video.