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Reality star Georgia Harrison has said the leaked 'revenge porn' video of herself having sex with Stephen Bear spread 'like a house fire', as she told MPs of her harrowing ordeal.
Former Celebrity Big Brother winner Bear walked out of prison in January, having served 10-and-a-half months of his 21-month sentence for sharing a secretly-filmed video of him having sex with Harrison on his OnlyFans site.
Harrison told MPs on the Women and Equalities Committee that the video 'went viral to a point I can't explain' as it spread across multiple porn sites and was circulated on WhatsApp.
Speaking of the ordeal, she said: '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.
'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.
Reality star Georgia Harrison gave evidence to the Women and Equalities Committee earlier today on the subject of non-consensual intimate image abuse
Stephen Bear, pictured arriving at Chelmsford Crown Court in March this year, must pay back £22,305 for posting a sex-tape of his former partner, along with £5,000 to Harrison for emotional and financial distress caused to her
Georgia Harrison (right) is seen at Parliament after speaking in a select committee meeting chaired by Caroline Nokes MP about changing the legislation around image-bases sexual abuse. She was joined by her mother Nicola Harrison and ex police officer Michelle Roycroft (left)
'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.'
Bear was jailed in March last year after being found guilty of voyeurism and of two counts of disclosing private sexual photographs and films with intent to cause distress.
He has been ordered to pay back the £22,305 he made from sharing the CCTV footage which was filmed in his garden on August 2, 2020.
His OnlyFans subscriber count was said to have jumped 43 per cent as a result of the video, from 1,061 when it was uploaded on November 8, 2020 to 1,883 by the time his account was de-activated on December 8.
Giving evidence to the committee on the subject of non-consensual intimate image abuse earlier today, Harrison told MPs: 'I feel like one of the biggest challenges in general is these big social media companies who are hosting pornographic images and videos, they don't have any way of us getting through to them to report it when there is something unconsented there.
'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.
'I'm not saying delete it, I'm not saying take this person's account down, I'm just saying can we pause it and then review it in a few weeks and I think that is the biggest issue we are dealing with at the moment.
Georgia Harrison as she left parliament after speaking in a select committee meeting
Harrison told of how the video, which had been filmed and uploaded without her knowledge, had spread like 'a house fire', with her family, workplace and peers finding out within days
Georgia Harrison (centre) with her mother Nicola Harrison (right) and ex police officer Michelle Roycroft (left)
'Then, they could go back and review it and if whoever is in it hasn't consented, it will never go back up, but if after review both people have consented the footage is still there to get put back on the platform.
'But I think if something gets to the level where you say this is me in a sexually explicit act and I have not given permission, it should be paused that day, not in four to six days.'
Asked if she considered giving up on the legal process, she said: 'I knew that I couldn't speak through that timeline until I got to the court process and I thought, shall I just give up so I can speak my truth to the public.
'But I knew what I was doing I had to push on with no matter what.'
Discussing waiving her anonymity, she said: 'I really do feel my anonymity was removed as soon as the video went up anyway, because everyone I knew friendship wise, colleague-wise, family wise, which is your main concern when something like this happens, were already aware of the video.
'So I felt like my anonymity didn't really exist.
'I felt I had been at such an injustice not just by the man that had done it to me, but by the platforms that used me to make money on their behalf, they literally used this unconsented money to make money off me, and I felt it was something I didn't ever want to happen in the future.'
Harrison and Bear, pictured together when they were dating
Bear was jailed on March 3 last year and served 10-and-a-half months of his sentence. Bear and Harrison are pictured on a sandy beach from when they were together
Bear has been told he must pay back the £22,305 he had profited from illegally posting the film and £5,000 to Harrison for the emotional and financial distress caused to her within three months to avoid facing a further nine months in jail.
Speaking to the Committee, Harrison added that she still gets 'five to six messages a day' from sexual assault victims and their family members.
'To this day, bear in mind, we're about three years later, I still would say I get about five to six messages a day from either a victim or a victim's family', she said. 'Usually just asking for help, detailing what they've been through.
'It does tend to be around image-based sexual abuse, but I feel like it's more now a broader scope where it can be domestic abuse, people that have been sexually assaulted, rape victims.
'And I usually just do my best to direct them to whatever charity I feel can help them the most.
'When it comes to image based sexual abuse, I'll always give them some form of advice or reassurance, a little bit of guidance on hopefully things can get better for you and will, but I will then pass them over to the Revenge Porn Helpline who can then help them from there.
'So I dread to imagine how many people they get sent through via me, let alone in general.'
Harrison also admitted the revenge porn ordeal has given her a 'lot of fear' at the prospect of starting a family, and said the footage of her should be made illegal.
She said: '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.
'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?
'Because I'm not protected in the right way by the Government for that not to be an issue right now.'
Harrison, issued a statement outside Chelmsford Crown Court in March this year after her former partner Bear was ordered to pay £27,500
Describing her initial reaction to discovering the video which had been posted without her consent, she said 'my body deteriorated with my emotions'.
'For the first few days, I was really just going through waves of complete sorrow and shock,' she said.
'It got to the point where I was so emotionally affected by what happened to me that I ended up being physically ill as well to the point where I was in hospital for five days over Christmas a little bit after the incident because the stress took such an effect on my body.
'I ended up having a cyst burst and I got an infection and literally it was just like my body deteriorated with my emotions.'
