It was everyday curiosity that led reality star Sharon Gaffka to look at what was being discussed about her on social media.
‘For any person, whether you’re a public figure or not, sometimes you’re a little bit nosy about what is said about you online,’ explained Sharon, who previously appeared on the reality show Love Island in 2021.
‘I discovered an entire Subreddit that was named after me and wondered whether it was to follow the campaign work I’d done. It was actually an entire group of men taking images of me from online and TV, ejaculating over them and then posting them.
‘The images weren’t predominantly holiday pictures, or lingerie shots,’ she added.
‘They were actually stills or videos of me talking about domestic abuse, talking about gender-based violence, and actually being fully clothed.’
Speaking to Metro at domestic abuse charity Refuge’s ‘Home Is Where The Hurt Is’ demonstration outside parliament this week, Sharon explained that she’s no stranger to online abuse.
She’s already experienced threats of sexual violence and misogyny in comments to photos of her wearing bikinis – but these types of pictures, known as ‘semen images’, felt even darker.
However, the Refuge Ambassador admits the discovery did not shock her.
‘I actually thought that it was just a matter of time before my images were going to be abused,’ she explained. ‘I didn’t think it would be that way, but I guess because new laws are coming in, for example over deepfake abuse, perpetrators are finding new ways to degrade women online.’
‘I don’t believe that those men will ever be prosecuted for what they did to me’
Reddit guidelines make it very clear that users should’never post or threaten to post intimate or sexually-explicit media of someone without their consent.’
Meanwhile, the government has recently announced that semen images will be made a criminal offence – however, there is currently no legal ruling against this act of violence.
‘I’m very fortunate that I managed to get that sub-Reddit deleted, but I don’t believe that those men will ever be prosecuted for what they did to me, and to those images, and how I feel about myself as a result,’ said Sharon.
‘I want to know how the police are going to be equipped to deal with cases like this, and what support women like me will be offered when they make reports.’
While there is much further to go to protect women online, Sharon, who has campaigned for amendments to the Online Safety Act to ensure digital safety of women and girls, says she is ‘proud’ to see that now economic sanctions will be placed on tech companies if they do not take non-consensual sexually explicit deepfake material down in 48 hours.
‘Finance and profit is the most important thing to them, so unless we follow through with those measures, they won’t take it seriously.’
‘Prevention starts at primary school’
TV personality Zara McDermott worked with the Government Department for Education before becoming a contestant on Love Island in 2018.
She had intimate images of her shared online without consent, first when she was 14 and again at 21, and said that she uses her own experiences to spread awareness by making documentaries that tackle issues such as rape culture and ‘revenge porn’.
‘More of that needs to be done by those who young people can relate to. We need to break the generational gap,’ Zara told Metro at the Refuge event. ‘I get teachers coming up to me almost every day saying that they have shown one of the documentaries in their class and it has opened up a conversation.’
The campaigner also believes that parents can play a vital role: ‘We need to be teaching about healthy relationships from a very young age – I’m talking about primary school level.’
Fellow Refuge Ambassador, actor and filmmaker David Morrisey, says that men also have a significant responsibility to start conversations, at home and in public.
‘We often think of domestic abuse as a women’s problem, but it’s a male problem,’ he told Metro. ‘Men need to be at the heart of these campaigns, to change behaviour, to call it out, to be advocates for women in male spaces.
‘It’s about education, of course it is, but it’s also about intervention.’
‘So many of us feel that home is such a safe place, a place where we go to relax and kick back,’ he added. ‘But for so many women, home is a dangerous place. It can be used as a weapon against you, as a woman in a domestic situation.’
Domestic abuse is ‘almost always’ committed by a loved one
Also speaking to Metro, Chanita Stephenson, from Season 7 of Married at First Sight UK, said that she grew up in a house where domestic abuse was present. ‘I’ve experienced the ripple effect that had on me from being a child to now as an adult, and also the effect on my mum,’ she explained.
Refuge: Home is Where The Hurt is
In England and Wales, one in four women will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime, and 75 women were killed by a current or former partner or family member in the year ending March 2025.
Refuge’s International Women’s Day campaign, Home is Where the Hurt Is, exposes a devastating truth: the most dangerous place for a woman is her own home.
Watch the charity's film here to learn more.
As part of the campaign, Refuge is also calling on the government to close the £55.5 million refuge funding gap.
Read their open letter to the Prime Minister here.
Refuge’s National Domestic Abuse Helpline is available on 0808 2000 247 for free, confidential support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
If you or someone close to you has felt unsafe at home because of a current or former partner or family member, you can also contact Refuge here.
‘It’s devastating. It breaks your home up, it impacts your school life, it affects you as you grow older and form relationships. It has damaged my trust, made me hypervigilant and caused me to be wary of connecting with others.
‘But that’s what encouraged me to help people,’ explained Chanita, who trained as a social worker and has supported families through various types of domestic abuse.
She added that through her work she has seen time and time again that ‘it’s not just “men in dark alleyways” committing violence against women and girls.’
‘Women need somewhere safe to go’
TV personality and campaigner Georgia Harrison has been a Refuge Ambassador for five years, after her ex-partner, Stephen Bear, leaked an intimate video of them both without her consent.
Over that time, she has seen countless women being referred to the charity, but a lack of funding and resources means that the organisation cannot offer the help that these women so desperately need.
‘I’ve had first-hand contact with so many women experiencing domestic abuse, they’re not safe in their own home and they need somewhere else to go,’ Georgia told Metro.
‘The thought that there may not be enough housing for some of those women breaks my heart. All women out there should know that when they get the strength to walk away, someone will be there to make sure that they are safe.’
Metro has reached out to Reddit for comment.