An angry personal trainer says she confronted men who took photos of her sunbathing topless on the beach only to be ‘gaslit’ and said they were just taking ‘landscape’ shots.
Lily Cooke was spotted sneaking along with her sister on a beach in Sydney’s eastern suburbs on 12 November and only became aware of the photos hours later.
She complained to the police because she was naked but no charges were filed because the picture was taken in public.
And Ms Cook’s efforts to hold the group of men morally accountable and apologize have also proved futile.
PT said she was able to track down those responsible after the ‘close up’ photo was circulated in one of her social circles.
When she confronted the men over the image, they denied involvement and suggested she was blowing the situation out of proportion – claiming it was cropped from a wide shot of the beach.
Lily Cook, from Sydney, (pictured) was secretly snapped sunbathing topless on a Sydney beach earlier this month
But by analyzing the picture Ms Cooke said she was able to debunk his claims and determine that he had been directly targeted.
“Instead of apologizing and accepting this plain truth, these people (and I use that word liberally) went on to create and confirm further lies, embellish stories and gaslight me,” she wrote on Instagram. Chosen.
‘I can’t help thinking how different this whole process would be if they had the strength and dignity to do their jobs and how that can affect a woman.’
When she arrived at the beach, Ms Cook said she saw three men, two of whom she knew socially and had several mutual friends. The men were later joined by their girlfriends.
She always went topless, but did not feel comfortable doing so while men were around and waiting for her to leave.
But later that night the fitness instructor received a text from a friend asking if she was topless on the beach, followed by a ‘close up’ photo of her lying on the sand.
‘The person who sent me the photo confirmed who sent it to him,’ she said.
‘It was then that I realized that a photograph of me had been taken without my consent and was further distributed.’
The photographs were taken secretly of Ms Cook, who allowed Daily Mail Australia to publish them. The difference between the two images sparked a fake story that claimed she was mistakenly caught in a wide landscape shot
Ms Cook contacted the men and their girlfriends in a group message and claimed she had accidentally stumbled upon a wide landscape photo posted to an Instagram Story by a friend.
She claimed that it was a lie as she and her sister were lying down in that image, but her sister was sitting in the picture shared.
“Due to the quality and angle of the image, it was clear that one of the men had gotten close to me to strip me topless,” he wrote.
Ms Cook said a person eventually took possession of the photo from the phone of the person who originally took it, and then sent it to two friends, who further distributed it.
But the youth refused to give a statement to the police.
He said that no one involved in the incident ever apologized to him for the “disgusting, perverted and juvenile” act.
Ms Cook said discovering she had shared a picture on a group chat ‘had a profoundly damaging effect on her mental health’.
‘It’s a moment in my life that will haunt me forever,’ she said, when other women told her the same thing happened to them.
‘possession and distribution of [an] The explicit image of a woman without her knowledge or consent is both abhorrent and illegal. I stand on this issue.
Chanelle Otten, a sexologist and tennis star and girlfriend of 2022 Australian of the Year Dylan Alcott, offered her support on Instagram.
She wrote, ‘This is so violative and disgusting, I can’t imagine your feelings within days of this revelation.’
‘We are all behind you, they are the problem, how brave of you to write this post. I hope it is not hidden, but dealt with adequately.
Ms Cook said she hoped sharing her story would empower other women who have had similar experiences
Ms Cook told the Daily Telegraph she reported the incident to the police but charges were not laid against those allegedly involved.
‘I’m disappointed because I was hoping something would be done,’ she said.
Although there are laws to protect victims of ‘revenge porn’ – the distribution of sexually explicit images of a person, usually by a former partner, without their consent – that did not apply in her case.
The police said that it is ‘not generally an offence’ to take a picture of any person in a public place, and only one taken in private is an offence.
‘Of course people should be able to express themselves however they want, but unfortunately in this social media day and age, others get a kick either for daring to take a picture or for the thrill of uploading it, ‘ A senior official told the Telegraph.
Another officer, who works in the field of sex crimes, said the outcome depended on the circumstances in each individual case, for example, cases of strangers taking pictures of children required further investigation.
Criminal lawyer Matt Ward said the law needed to catch up with changes in the way people use technology, as the divide between public and private is blurred by the increased sharing of content on social media platforms.
RMIT Professor Nicola Henry, an expert on image-based sexual abuse, agreed, saying the law has yet to reflect the specifics of consent.
She cited the incident in March this year when OnlyFans photos of Married At First Sight contestant Dominica Calarco were shared among the cast without her consent.
Professor Henry said that posting intimate images on a website does not mean giving consent for them to be shared elsewhere.
Ms Cook said she had a hard time understanding the motive behind the taking and sharing of the photos, but believed those involved may have gained some power.
She now felt empowered to share her story and advocate for other women with similar experiences.
“I am sharing my experience because I know there are women and girls who have experienced this type of violation and feel overwhelmed by the burden of hurt and social stigma like I do,” she wrote.
‘I want them to know that we share a bond and can draw on each other for strength.’
NSW Police said: ‘Distributing images to others without permission, particularly of an intimate nature, can have a serious impact on a person’s health and mental wellbeing, and may lead to criminal action.
‘These types of images can be distributed and viewed with increasing ease and can go viral within minutes, with long-term harmful consequences for the victims.
‘Even in a public setting, the privacy of others should be respected and if someone feels unsafe because of the actions of others, they should report it to the police.’
