Following the release of the documentary Zara McDermott: Revenge Porn, Lydia Glavey spoke to three women about their own harrowing experiences.
CW: Sexual assault, sexual harassment
Zara McDermott: Revenge Porn is the latest documentary from BBC Three. We follow Zara McDermott, the former Love Island contestant, as she highlights her journey living as a victim of revenge porn which negatively impacted ten years of her life.
The documentary focuses on the repercussions Zara faced, and how her relationship with her family, friends, and most importantly herself, was influenced due to the betrayal she faced from men in her life – not once, but twice. Zara’s first experience of revenge porn occurred at only fourteen years old, and she was consequently expelled from school. “My teachers just washed their hands of me,” stated Zara, “they constantly blamed me. They suspended me from school because they were so embarrassed by my behaviour. Do you know what that does to a young girl? The boy got off completely scot-free.” Not only does the response from Zara’s school regarding the situation completely dismiss their duty of care as educators, but it also teaches young people to normalise victim-blaming and delivers the message that young men do not, or should not, have consequences to their actions.
I personally have witnessed many women in my life becoming victims of revenge porn, both during secondary school and in later life. I recently discovered that revenge porn has only been illegal since 2015, meaning it wasn’t considered a crime the first time Zara found herself a victim at fourteen. With statistics showing that one in three revenge porn cases are dropped, it isn’t surprising in the slightest why women, in particular, feel like they cannot report such crimes against them – and why would they? To be victim-blamed by police, to be made to feel embarrassed by the perpetrator, or to be told those around them that “nothing will be done about it” are common occurrences. Or in Zara’s case, to be shunned by your place of education and expelled for the matter.
I decided to speak to three women regarding their experiences of revenge porn at different points of their life, which not only displays the prevalence of the issue, but that women of all ages can be victims, and society should acknowledge and treat this issue as seriously as it would for younger victims.
Anna*, 20, was a victim of revenge porn at 16 and made the decision to drop out of school because of the lack of help she was receiving from staff in particular. “The boy that did it was my ex-boyfriend, and his Mum was my head of year and was fully aware of it, but she did nothing,” said Anna, “he did it because I broke up with him as he was awful to me, and I had forgotten he had the video. I went to school the day later and everybody had seen it”. Anna expressed that she had to take a year out of school due to poor mental health and take her GCSE exams the following year instead.
“The teachers said that they couldn’t do anything about it because the video was initially taken consensually, but I think the fact his Mum worked at the school likely had more to do with it”. Anna was not only a victim of revenge porn but she was also a victim of an educational power imbalance and, similarly to Zara, was dismissed completely by those who were supposed to protect her from such crimes.
Lily*, 24, thought everything was going well at university – at 21, her social life was thriving, her grades were good, and the new man in her life treated her incredibly. That was until he spread intimate images of her in various group chats consisting of rugby boys “You can imagine how much I was bullied by them”, Lily told me, “my sports society had socials with the rugby team, and I stopped attending because I was the butt of an ongoing joke. I broke things off with the perpetrator immediately over text and he never spoke to me again but would join in on the jokes”. Lily also expressed that she faced a year-long wait on her University’s counselling list following the incident, as she was considered “not at risk”.
Alex*, 32, was manipulated into staying with an ex-boyfriend for two years due to threats of revenge porn. “He told me he would send photos and videos to my family and co-workers if I ever left him,” she stated, “I plucked up enough courage to tell the police and they said they couldn’t do much unless he released the content”.
In a step forward since Alex’s experience, the Domestic Abuse Bill was recently changed so that threats of revenge pornography are also now considered illegal, meaning perpetrators can spend up to two years in prison for the crime. Revenge Porn Helpline stated that in January 2021, they alone received over 400 monthly reports, and the numbers raised further in February, meaning many women may receive justice.
Although the implementations of such new laws show societal development, I, like many other women, am sceptical of the consequences perpetrators will face. Influencer Stephen Bear has seemingly “got off scot-free”, as Zara McDermott would say, with the atrocious crime he committed involving Georgia Harrison – and this is the reality for so many other women.
Zara, Anna, Lily, Alex, and Georgia are five women out of thousands who live as victims of such an evil crime, and there is not a maximal limit of education people should be taught on such matter. It is important to remember that this is not the fault of the victims – it is the wrongdoing of the perpetrator. It is vital that individuals be educated on the psychological effects of revenge porn and how we can work to raise this issue as a serious crime, both in society and to governmental forces.
*Names have been changed to protect identities.
Words by Lydia Glavey
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