Revenge porn victim launches campaign to halt internet trolls

A Scottish revenge porn victim is fronting a national campaign to tackle internet trolls and has recorded a song with celebrities to raise awareness.

DJ Edith Bowman has backed the campaign along with other celebrities like Charlotte Church and Andy Serkis. Picture: TSPL

Kelly McGurk, 29, was left devastated after her ex Jamie Leitch sent naked pictures and a video of her to his friends.

The images were shared with dozens of people after Kelly had finished with Leitch, who she was in a relationship with for four years.

She has now become the face of a campaign by BBC Radio 4 programme Women’s Hour called Take Back ConTROLL along with three other young women who have been victims of internet abuse.

The campaign aims to have trolling recognised as a public health issue and has been backed by celebrities including singer Charlotte Church, Lord of the Rings star Andy Serkis, DJ Edith Bowman and comedy actress Miranda Hart.

Kelly, a beauty therapy student from Erskine, Renfrewshire, has now recorded a song with other victims and the celebs called Save Our Trolls which pokes fun at trolls.

She waived her right to anonymity and told how she was proud to support the project.

She said: “People I know have seen the images of me. People my partner knows and who he sees on a daily basis have seen them.

“ When I go into my local shopping centre and somebody looks at me I ask myself: ‘Have they seen them?’

“I don’t trust anybody anymore. I just live my own life in my own wee bubble. It broke me for a long time but I wanted to raise awareness.

“If I could help one person and they don’t have to go through what I have been through then it will all be worth it.”

She added: “I feel there is not a lot of restriction on social media. You can report a photograph but it is not being patrolled enough.

“When people think of things going viral on the internet they think it’s got to be posted on Facebook or Twitter but it doesn’t. The images of me were shared through Snapchat and WhatsApp and it’s just as devastating when it’s done that way because they are seen all over your local community.

“I just want people to see me for me as not as a victim and I want to show people this has not completely broken me.”

The other women involved in the campaign are Charley Hough, Jackie Teale and Charlotte Proudman.

Charley’s half-brother shared ordinary photos from her social media accounts to an American porn website inviting users to leave obscene comments.

Jackie tweeted Katie Hopkins and was the victim of a fake news twitterstorm that ended in legal action and Charlotte ended up leaving social media after she called out sexism in the legal profession.