A Gauteng woman won damages of more than R4m from a married couple who shared her sexual content in a revenge porn crime.
The precedent-setting case highlights the psychological impact of the crime on victims.
The victim was involved in a romantic relationship with a married man for about six months. She did not know the man was married until his wife approached her with the information.
She then ended the relationship but the man would have none of it, harassing her to the point he would arrive at her place of employment every morning.
The victim briefed her lawyer, who sent a letter to the man, demanding he cease harassing her. This didn’t stop the man who threatened the victim that he would release a video of them having sex to her friends and family.
The woman told the high court in Johannesburg she was unaware the man had taken videos of them having sex — until the man sent her the videos as a warning he would post it on Facebook in an account he had created in which he said he would invite people they know and share the content there.
The man followed through with his threat by creating the Facebook account and inviting the woman’s colleagues, friends and family.
After creating the fake Facebook account, the man again threatened to release the videos unless the woman had sex with him.
When the demand was refused, the man posted two videos on Facebook. The woman was made aware by friends and family of two videos they had seen on Facebook. Evidence before court suggests the man’s wife participated in the creation of the Facebook account.
The woman claimed damages of R250,000 from the couple for opening the account and using it as a platform to strip her of her dignity and privacy.
The second claim of R2.5m was for the sharing of the videos on Facebook and the emotional trauma that followed. The woman told the court she had to seek medical treatment for the trauma and will seek further treatment in future.
The third claim of R500,000 was for the hurtful words published on the account by the couple depicting her as a person of low morals.
She was embarrassed and humiliated when her family and friends discovered the videos. She was so emotionally distressed she considered suicide.
— Judge Shanaaz Mia
The woman also demanded R500,000 from the man’s wife for talking to her colleagues and supervisors, hurting her professional standing.
“The evidence before this court comprised the plaintiff’s testimony regarding the humiliation she experienced as a result of the first and second defendants’ conduct, as well as its affect on her. She was unable to continue working at the same company,” judge Shanaaz Mia said.
“She was embarrassed and humiliated when her family and friends discovered the videos. She was so emotionally distressed she considered suicide. She suffered from and has been treated for alopecia caused by the stress and anxiety she suffered.”
Alopecia refers to partial or complete loss of hair from areas of the body where hair normally grows.
Mia ordered the couple to pay the woman R3.55m within two months, while the man’s wife was ordered to pay a further R750,000.
“I have considered that the legislation criminalising the conduct is reflective of the seriousness of the infringement. This reflects the extent to which the state has acted to ensure the protection of the right to privacy and dignity of people and is in keeping with their international obligations to do so,” Mia ruled.
President Cyril Ramaphosa in 2019 signed amendments to the Films and Publications Bill into law that will further clamp down on hate speech, the dissemination of child pornography and revenge porn.
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