A man in British Columbia has been granted $35,000 in compensation by the B.C. Civil Resolution Tribunal (CRT) for enduring the distress caused by his ex-partner’s repeated sharing of intimate images of him online.
According to the CRT’s ruling on September 25, the man, referred to as the “applicant,” had been in a nearly four-year intimate relationship with the woman, known as the “respondent.” Following their separation, the woman resorted to creating fake social media profiles where she posted eight private images of the man, including some revealing his genitalia.
The applicant stumbled upon one of these images in January 2024, as per the decision. Despite a previous directive from the tribunal ordering the respondent to delete the images and prevent their further dissemination, she persistently violated this order by sharing his image 14 times between March 12 and September 8, 2026, breaching a protection order.
The woman failed to respond in the latest legal proceeding and was declared in default by the CRT. In their ruling, the tribunal characterized the woman’s actions as a deliberate and persistent effort to harass and distress the applicant, emphasizing that the images clearly displayed the man’s face, making him easily recognizable and vulnerable to harm.
Highlighting the ongoing impact of intimate image violations, tribunal member Jeffrey Drozdiak underscored that the two-year limitation period for such cases did not apply in this instance, as the shared image continued to cause harm until December 2025. Drozdiak emphasized that every day the image remained online inflicted “fresh damage,” justifying the late filing of the applicant’s claim.
Ultimately, Drozdiak awarded the man $30,000 in compensatory damages, along with an additional $5,000 in aggravated damages.
