Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Entertainment
Mia O'Hare

Georgia Harrison joins demonstration at Parliament after Stephen Bear conviction

Georgia Harrison has appeared outside Parliament to call for better online protections for women and girls - following Stephen Bear's conviction.

The former Love Islander, 28, bravely waived her right to anonymity when taking her ex Bear to court for sharing footage of them having sex without her permission.

The disgraced TV star is currently serving 21 months behind bars and has been placed on the sex offenders register.

Georgia earned huge praise for how she handled the fall out to the explicit clip being leaked and the arduous legal process.

She is taking part in a stunt with charity Refuge to highlight the scale of online violence against women and girls.

Love Island contestant Georgia Harrison attended a demonstration outside Parliament (Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)

Refuge has erected an installation recreating a "danger zone" in Victoria Tower Gardens, with a giant mobile phone and signs warning of a lack of protection for women and girls "to highlight the multiple spaces online where women are at risk of abuse".

They are calling for a violence against women and girls code of practice to be added to the Online Safety Bill "to ensure social media companies respond to and prevent online violence" against this group.

Georgia said: “As someone in the public eye, I know how horrific online abuse and harassment is, but it’s not just those in the public eye who experience this.

Georgia took part in the demonstration (Ian Vogler / Daily Mirror)

"A recent survey by Refuge found that one in three women in the UK has experienced online abuse or harassment on social media or another online platform. How can we sit back and allow this to happen? We need to make a change.

"I want women and girls to feel able to be online safely and confidently. The solution cannot be for women to come offline. So much of our lives are lived online, and we must ensure that social media doesn’t become unsocial for women."

The stunt coincides with the Online Safety Bill returning to Parliament for committee stage in the House of Lords where they are due to begin line-by-line scrutiny of the legislation today.

Georgia has recently spoken passionately about how the past few years have rocked her life and says he stole her "innocent spark" when Bear leaked a private sex video of her.

Bear was jailed in March for posting the sex tape with his ex online without her consent.

He was supported by current girlfriend Jessica Smith throughout the trial as Judge Christopher Morgan told him: "You intended to maximise the distress and humiliation of Georgia Harrison.

Georgia bravely spoke out on her experience (John Rainford / SplashNews.com)
Bear has been jailed for 21 months (PA)

"That is evidenced by the continued availability of video after Georgia had requested you take it down. By making it available on your OnlyFans site, the video circulated widely and publicly."

Georgia told the court: "Millions of people were watching me and laughing at me and it was completely, utterly out of my control.

"He’s left me feeling hurt, embarrassed, insignificant and insecure in so many ways."

The Love Island star bravely made a documentary for ITV2 on her experience.

She was thrilled by the reaction, saying: "My case in general has really shocked the British public, but it is such a common thing – so common.

"Ever since this happened to me I became someone that victims reach out to, and I get at least five women a day – usually victims but sometimes mothers of victims or family members who want advice,” she told the BBC ’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme.

"You just wouldn’t believe how big this is and how many people are being affected by it."

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.