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Love Island star Zara McDermott has teamed up with charity workers from domestic abuse charity Refuge to lobby for changes in the law regarding revenge porn.
The TV star, 24, has previously spoken about her devastating experience with having photographs of herself distributed when she was in the villa.
On Thursday she appeared at Parliament Square to call for action as she stood alongside ambassadors hoping to make a change ahead of the Domestic Abuse Bill returning to the House of Lords in coming days.
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Zara, who has also made a documentary about revenge porn for the BBC, said while appearing today: “I was a victim of revenge porn twice in my life, once when I was 21 when I came out of the show Love Island.
“I came out to find out an ex of mine had shared a lot of imagery of me while I was actually in the show, so I was completely unaware. So I came out and I was bombarded with all of these images of myself and it’s hard.
“It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through in my life. This is important to me because it happens to so many women. And men, but a lot of the time it is women. It completely destroys lives.”
Earlier this year Zara revealed that she had been a victim to revenge porn, and that she would be releasing an “emotional and raw” timeline of her horrific experiences.
Zara wrote on Instagram: “ANNOUNCEMENT. Hi Everyone. Some of you may be aware that I have been a victim of Image Based Sexual Abuse, which is also known as Revenge Porn.
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“For those of you who don't know what this is, it's basically when one person shares intimate images of videos of another person without their consent.
“I am really humbled and honoured to announce that the BBC and I are currently making a documentary to share my story.
“My main aim is to bring awareness to this issue, and be a voice for those who have suffered in silence and to help make a change.
“I am sharing my story and being my most vulnerable, emotional and raw [sic].”
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