The recent case of FGX v Gaunt [2023] resulted in a landmark decision that almost £100,000 in compensation would be awarded for ‘sexual image-based abuse’ or more commonly known as ‘revenge porn’. The latter term, however, was criticised by High Court Judge Mrs Justice Thornton who stated that it connoted the victim “somehow deserved what happened to them”.
The case arose when the claimant, an unidentified woman, discovered she had been covertly recorded by her partner, Stuart Gaunt, by a microscopic camera in the bathroom of the home they shared. She also discovered that he had uploaded the images from it onto a pornographic website, alongside a photo of her face and had received payment for uploading these images.
In the criminal proceedings in September 2020, Mr Gaunt was convicted of voyeurism and other sexual offences and received a two-year suspended jail term. The claimant later brought civil proceedings for breach of an obligation of trust and confidence in relation to intimate and personal matters, which the defendant failed to respond to. As a result, the claimant’s obtained a judgment in her favour on liability.
This is the first civil case to recognise the severe impact of sexual image-based abuse can have on the lives of its victims. Mrs Justice Thornton ascertained that the claimant suffered from chronic post-traumatic stress disorder and a long-term personality change as a result of the offence. Moreover, the continued existence of these images in the public domain was an ongoing barrier to the claimant’s recovery. As a result, the claimant was awarded general damages of £60,000 and special damages of £37,041.61 for consequential financial losses. “The court’s approach to the level of damages…were really on par with what you could expect from a rape case,” said Jonathan Bridge, the claimant’s solicitor.
This judgement provides a valuable precedent for future civil cases of ‘image-based abuse’ and is an important development for victims of a similar misconduct to seek justice. Zahra Awaiz-Bilal, a senior associate in Bolt Burdon Kemp’s Abuse team, said this ‘landmark case’ was a ‘long-awaited positive step in the right direction’.