'We were victims of revenge porn'

As BBC Scotland reveals that less than half of so-called revenge porn cases are passed to prosecutors, two women victims - one in her 20s and another in her 50s - speak about their traumatic experiences.

Kelly McGurk's world came crashing down around her the morning she received a Facebook message from a stranger.

It contained intimate screenshots of photos taken by her ex-partner, who she had broken up with six months before.

The 29-year-old beauty therapy student said: "I was angry because we'd been split up for so long, I was absolutely livid.

"I realised he did it because I wouldn't get back with him, that was his revenge towards me."

The screenshots also included two images that Kelly's former partner had taken without her knowledge.

She said: "You can quite clearly see in them that my eyes were shut, or they were taken from behind, things like that."

Kelly reported the crime to Police Scotland in January 2017 but then heard nothing back for four months.

Only when she chased up the matter did she discover the investigating officer was on extended sick leave, with no replacement assigned.

When her ex-partner pleaded guilty in September, he was given a community payback and placed on the sex offenders register for 18 months.

Kelly said: "He sent explicit photos of me to god knows how many people, so he should have been placed on the sex offenders list.

"I knew that that would affect him for the rest of his life, just like he's done to me."

But the experience has also had a more long-term impact on her life.

"I don't trust anybody now," she said. "I just live my own life. Me, myself in a little bubble, and that's it.

"I've pulled myself away from friends, I've lost friends.

"Some of them believed him - and even to this day, even though he's been convicted and he pleaded guilty, people think that it was all a lie and that I was twisting things."

Kelly waived her right to anonymity in the hope her story would inspire others.

She said: "I'm not his victim any more, and so why should I hide? I haven't done anything wrong.

"I'm not scared of him any more, I'm not scared of anything any more.

"The more victims that come forward, and the more people that are prosecuted, then maybe society will realise that you're not getting away with this, and you can't do it to people."

The text message simply read: "I like what I see, I'd like to have sex with you."

Anne (not her real name) assumed the sender had the wrong number, but subsequent texts revealed that intimate images of her had been uploaded to a swingers website without her knowledge.

She later found out that it was her ex-husband who had leaked them after their "volatile" marriage had ended.

Her email account had also been hacked, and the images sent to all her contacts.

Anne said: "All these images were taken over a period of about eight years - I knew that because of how I looked in the images.

"Every one of them was taken while I was sleeping."

She added: "The police had to look at these images and that alone was embarrassing especially when you're sat there facing them.

"This affected me in every way - I wouldn't go out, I even tried to commit suicide once because I felt that worthless and filthy."

While the data obtained by BBC Scotland suggests it is typically 20-29 year olds who have reported instances of revenge porn, it also showed that people in their 50s, like Anne, had also been affected

Anne's ex-husband was jailed for two years for stalking, but the photo-related charge was dropped by the procurator fiscal.

She said: "So it went in the papers that I'd agreed to be photographed.

"No one believed me - not even my son - and that made me angry…because I know that I did not consent to these photographs."

Anne added: "I've overcome quite a lot but I still have nightmares.

"I'm getting there, but I would never in my life trust another man - never, I couldn't.

"I mean I was married to that animal for years, and I just couldn't believe what he done."