Revenge porn: Georgia Harrison vs Stephen Bear
I first heard of Georgia Harrison when she arrived as a bombshell during my favourite season of Love Island. Georgia was responsible for arguably one of the best Love Island moments when she chose to couple up with Kem, resulting in a fantastic internet meme of his partner Amber’s reaction.
I therefore never expected that the next time I saw Georgia on TV, I would be crying as she gave an incredibly raw and heart-breaking account of her fight against Stephen Bear in the criminal courts.
In March 2023, Stephen Bear was sentenced to 21 months imprisonment and was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for ten years after he secretly recorded himself and Georgia having sex and used WhatsApp and OnlyFans to share the images without her consent.
Image based sexual abuse is when someone shares private and intimate images of you without your consent. This crime is rife and on the rise, and it affects people of all backgrounds; men and women, young and old, straight and LGBT+. A study in the UK in 2022 showed that women aged 30-39 were most likely to be subjected to this type of abuse.
If you have yet to watch Revenge Porn: Georgia vs Bear I cannot urge you enough to watch it now. What struck me about Georgia’s documentary was the strength she showed in the face of Bear’s arrogance. Bear displayed every textbook abuser’s trait – he tried to manipulate Georgia, he used his platform to call her a liar and subject her to abuse from his followers, he gaslighted her, told her she had “lost the plot”, and insulted her. He treated his criminal trial as a circus, performing to the paparazzi and showing the court no respect as he belittled the prosecution and spoke over the judge.
It was satisfying to see this man, who thought he was untouchable and could get away with violating a young woman, brought to justice.
The reason he was brought to justice was because Georgia fought hard. She pushed through the victim-blaming, the gaslighting and the distress, and she fought not only for herself but for every woman who has been violated and humiliated in this way by someone she trusted. It takes courage to stand up for yourself, and the social media flurry after her documentary was full of praise, thanks and admiration from women everywhere.
Compensation
Following Bear’s conviction, Georgia is now entitled to compensation for the pain and suffering he put her through. She explained in the documentary that she struggled to get work whilst the criminal investigation was ongoing. A claim for compensation would include a claim for loss of earnings as well as for the money Bear made on OnlyFans from selling her images illegally.
If you have been affected by this issue, please get in touch for help and advice. We are a team of expert Abuse Lawyers and we can investigate a compensation claim on your behalf on a no-win no-fee basis. If we think you have a case, we can also fund private therapy whilst your claim is ongoing to ensure that you get the right help and treatment as soon as possible to set you on the road to recovery.
