Following the recent release of Georgia Harrison’s documentary “Georgia vs Bear: Revenge Porn,” a post hoc analysis can now be performed looking at the case and determining whether Harrison’s win was really the win for victims it appears to be.
Bear and Harrison briefly dated back in November 2018, after meeting on “The Challenge” – an MTV reality game show. They split a month later but did reunite for a trip to Thailand for a fitness retreat. In August 2020, unbeknownst to Harrison, the pair were recorded having sex in the garden on CCTV cameras.
Stephen Bear has maintained a healthy reality tv workload since first appearing in “Shipwrecked: The Island” in 2011. “Ex on the Beach,” “Just Tattoo Of Us” and “Celebs Go Dating” are all shows Bear has graced, or some would argue burdened, with his presence. Most notably, “Celebrity Big Brother” where his controversial actions were met with house security threatening to remove him. On this show, Bear sparked an on-screen romance with Chloe Khan, publicly cheating on his girlfriend at home Lillie Gregg.
The August 2020 incident was described by Harrison’s attorney Jacqueline Carey KC: “[Bear and Harrison] had some lunch and had some drinks and ended up back in his house in Loughton… they engaged in consensual sexual intercourse in his garden… what she didn’t know he did was Mr. Bear had CCTV cameras in his garden that recorded them having sex.” Georgia was later shown the video and “told him never to send it to anyone and made it plain how upset she would be if he did.” Harrison recalled logging onto Bear’s OnlyFans to find a screenshot of him on top of her. She stated “he put up the caption as something along the lines of: “sign up now for 50 percent off to see me f***king this b**** in my garden.” Harrison recalled the immediate fallout leading her to immense stress, where her hair began to fall out and she discovered a cyst in her stomach, as well as having septic shock.
Her win against Bear that sentenced him to 21 months in prison has inspired the praise of other revenge porn victims. Karolina Smith was harassed by her former partner, who made an Instagram account posting “countless” naked photos and videos of Smith. The ordeal led to Smith’s depression diagnosis. Her former partner was sentenced to 25 months in prison following a similar pattern to Bear of lack of remorse.
Unfortunately, the case has highlighted the commonality of revenge porn incidents with Harrison herself stating she receives messages from at least five women going through a similar situation every day. The Ministry of Justiceexpects about one in fourteen adults in England and Wales to have experienced a threat to share intimate images. Whilst sharing explicit footage without consent was made illegal in 2015, prosecuting the crime seems to be a different story. A new amendment was made in 2021 which also made threatening to release private sexual images and films an offence.
An obstacle many find in prosecution is the ability to prove intent to harm. Harrison is now calling on the government to remove this requirement. What is argued to have made Harrison’s case a straightforward prosecution was Bear’s attitude. His obnoxious history in reality tv coincided with the prosecution’s image of an egomaniac. Bear also went viral on social media for arriving at court with flamboyant suits, where at one time on Twitter he called his followers to vote in a poll deciding on the colour of his suit for court. Throughout the trial Bear also consistently promoted his OnlyFans site, even with a “50% off deal” promotion running.
Now, whilst Georgia Harrison looks for a fresh start in the States following the conviction, Bear is rumoured to be on suicide watch in prison. Bear’s current fiancé Jessica Smith has stood by Bear through the ordeal and has been posting her support on social media. Smith shared a letter on social media that Bear sent to her from prison, but her support for him has earnt controversy. In now-deleted tweets it was revealed Smith supported Harrison in the initial outbreak of the controversy, therefore many are speculating on Smith’s transformative views, and now her unrelenting support of her jailed fiancé.
Whilst her story has proved justice in revenge porn cases is possible, there is a clear need for legislative change. Harrison old GLAMOUR herself “in terms of revenge porn, the law needs to change.” Not every case has a persecutor who hands the prosecution their narrative on a plate like Stephen Bear did, far too often revenge porn cases contain a level of illusion and secrecy, all of which aim to further demean the victim. It appears Georgia Harrison’s win may be the first hallmark on a journey to achieve justice for all victims of revenge porn.
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