This is what it's like to have your sex tape leaked

Earlier this week, former metal band vocalist Kiara Laeticia spoke of the shame and panic she felt after a video of her having sex with her partner leaked online.

The 38-year-old recently became the victim of a phone hack which saw explicit videos and pictures shared online without her consent. Speaking of her ordeal to UniLad, Laeticia revealed that she only found out about the leak when fans alerted her, at which point she combed through her online accounts and changed all of her passwords.

But it was too late – by that point the videos were being widely circulated online. The situation was out of her control, she says, describing initial shame:

I really don’t like being out of control. I hadn’t had panic attacks in years and I started to have them again.

I think it had to do with the shame issue and being out of control.

Unfortunately, Laeticia’s suffering isn’t unique; this year alone has seen numerous soap stars and women in the public eye subjected to leaks of their private photos and videos.

These leaks have been frequent and well-publicised over the last few years, with the most incendiary – dubbed ‘The Fappening’ back in 2016 – sparking a wave of research which demonstrated how disturbingly easy these hacks can be to carry out.

Another increasingly popular form of cybersex crime is ‘revenge porn’, otherwise known as sharing sexually explicit pictures or videos of an ex without consent. Last year saw a landmark victory for Chrissy Chambers, who launched a civil case against her ex and won despite the explicit videos being originally shared in 2011, four years before revenge porn was officially classified as a crime in 2015.

Revenge porn claims have since been on the rise, although early reports show that most reported cases didn’t end in a conviction. More recent statistics indicate that this has changed for the better, with more defendants than ever being charged with sex crimes.

More: 'You're absolutely not alone' – A powerful message from the woman who fought revenge porn, and won