Amy Hart has revealed that she received unsolicited X-rated photos from men during her pregnancy.
The reality star, 30, who welcomed her son Stanley with boyfriend Sam Rason last month, added that cyberflashing leaves her feeling “violated” and “powerless”.
Now the Love Island star is campaigning for the government to reconsider cyberflashing laws as the online safety bill enters its final stages.
Speak against Heat magazineshe said, “It was really weird because the pictures came alongside some really graphic sexual messages.
‘Cyberflashing is against the law and can make you powerless.’
Tough: Amy Hart has revealed she was given unsolicited X-rated photos of men during her pregnancy, adding that cyberflashing has left her feeling ‘violated’ and ‘powerless’
Her partner Sam, 35, was also uncomfortable with the way men have behaved online.
She explained, “My partner Sam thinks it’s so weird. He was like, “I wouldn’t even send you that right now and we’ve been together for two years.”
The unsolicited footage made Amy question her “stupid fearless” attitude, she added.
She explained: ‘When I go to London and come from West End shows in the evening, I walk back to the tube or train.
“But once I got pregnant, I got worried as soon as someone walked a little closer to me, which they were going to do.
“You don’t just think about yourself anymore.”
While Amy has teamed up with dating app Bumble to address the cyberflashing issue, she noted that “it’s not something that happens to people in the public eye,” suggesting that people see reality stars and influencers as “fair game.” .
She said, “With ‘Love Island,’ people love it — like me, it’s still my favorite show — or they’re proud not to watch it.
Passionate: The reality star, 30, who welcomed her son Stanley with boyfriend Sam Rason last month, is campaigning for the government to reconsider cyberflashing laws as the online safety law enters its final stages
New parents: Amy, who starred in the 2019 series of Love Island, shared a sweet Instagram post last month after welcoming her first child
“Even as an influencer, people think we are fair game and they want to push that as far as possible.”
Last week, Amy appeared alongside Vanessa Feltz on her TalkTV show where they discussed cyberflashing and how it’s something that happens to her “quite regularly.”
Vanessa said: “Most of us have been through that pretty regularly – I know I do, I normally send back a smiling emoji and then I block the person.
“I wouldn’t say I enjoy it, on the other hand it’s just one of those dangers.”
Meanwhile, Amy said she felt “violated” by this.
She added, “It can feel quite violent and it also took away that choice from you, it took away from you that power and it’s a power thing for a lot of them, because they forced you to look at that picture.”
“There are a lot of men who put them on their Instagram story and then tag a lot of women who want to see them, so we just scroll through our Instagram story listings and it will pop up, and then they have a list of who’s seen it and get a kick out of it.’
Amy also revealed that she never reported the cyber flashing to the police because she never felt confident enough.
Vanessa admitted that she thinks men are cyberflashing because it’s a way to cause suffering and she described it as a power play.
She added: “It’s to cause pain and shame and distress to a complete stranger who has done absolutely nothing to you, nothing to provoke it and I think the knowledge of that is often the inspiration behind it.”
“It’s not that they need to be educated that it’s not fun, they know it’s not fun. That’s what they do it for.’
The stars made the admissions out of concern that the cyberflashing laws in the online safety bill don’t go far enough as the law enters its final stages.
Amy revealed that the cyberflashing violation in the new online safety law is based on intent rather than consent.
At this point it must be proven that there was malicious intent and nothing can be done if someone says that the unsolicited photo was a joke.
Bumble, UN Women and Grazia made a pledge to get people to sign and get the government to change the base so images can only be sent with permission.
It comes after Amy hit back at trolls who accused her of editing her pregnancy photos as she counted down the days until she welcomed her first child.
The former Love Island star took to her Instagram Story in February to reveal she had been accused of “airbrushing” a series of photos of baby bumps.
The troll wrote, “Too bad you airbrushed yourself because it’s not necessary and they should be nice natural shots.”