your intimate image or video without your consent

to humiliate or punish you,

that is a form of online abuse.

- Alex and I, we went to school together.

We were mates for many years.

We hung out all the time,

and we practically knew everything about each other.

One night, we kissed.

I didn't think much of it.

It was just a fun night out

that went a bit too far, I guess.

I mean, I liked Alex.

I just didn't want to ruin our friendship,

and I just thought we were both on the same page.

He called and text me a couple of times that week,

but that wasn't out of the norm.

However, the next week,

we met up again with all of our friends.

My friend noticed Alex was just staring at me,

but I laughed it off.

It was the night after our final exams,

so I did have a few drinks just to celebrate.

Alex and I stupidly kissed again.

Then we went back to his house, and well,

you know, one thing led to another.

I really regretted it.

I knew straight away that

I didn't want it to go any further.

I just didn't want to date him or anything.

I knew I didn't feel the same way about him.

He started calling and messaging me

an insane amount of times over the following weekend.

I ended up calling him,

because his messages were just getting too weird.

I told him that we needed to meet up.

I told him that he was just a good friend,

that we should just stay mates, you know?

He didn't try to argue with me.

He just looked confused and upset.

That night I went out with a few friends for girls night

and a couple of our male schoolmates were there too,

so, my friend Kate, she actually tagged us all

in a group photo to get Lara in.

Later that night, Alex actually sent me a text message

calling me a slut.

He also posted photos of me from our night together.

I don't even remember them being taken.

I'm topless in one, and completely naked in others,

and there's just some other ones

that I don't even want to mention.

I couldn't believe what he had done.

All my friends and family, they saw the photos.

I was hysterical and I sent him messages

asking him to take everything down.

I begged, but he stopped answering my calls or my messages.

My friends helped me report all the images to the website,

and after a day or so, they did get removed,

but you know, by then, everyone had seen them,

even total strangers had commented on them

and shared them around.

We reported it to Google,

and they helped block the images in Search results.

It made me feel a little bit better,

but then, Alex posted my name and my mobile number,

and I started getting abusive and threatening messages

from all kinds of creeps.

I kept reporting them, but I also had to take screenshots,

and things like that, just in case,

I decided to go to the police.

I ended up blocking Alex from my mobile,

and every single stranger that tried

to message or call me,

I have to hide my caller ID.

I also totally blocked Alex online,

deleted him from any group,

and my friends made sure that everyone we knew

had blocked and deleted him as well.

It all stopped eventually,

but it took me a really long time

to stop blaming myself.

I've learned that there are things that you can do

to take the power away from the abuser,

and gain back control.

- [Voiceover] Find out more,

at eSafety for women.