Sisters Describe 'Complete Violation' After Being Upskirted on Night Out in Manchester

Two sisters have spoken out about the "complete violation" they experienced when they were secretly filmed by men who followed them during a night out in Manchester, saying their alleged harassers "chose the wrong girls" to target.

Georgia Scholes, 25, and her sister Alex Scholes, 22, had just left a restaurant in the Spinningfields area of the city when two men began following them closely up a set of stairs while filming them without their knowledge or consent.

Georgia, an actress who appears in the ITV crime drama *The Bay*, recalled sensing that "something felt off" when she noticed one of the men holding his phone at an awkward angle. It was only moments later that she realised he was recording her and her sister.

"The moment I realised what had happened, my heart just sank," she said. "It was a complete violation."

Greater Manchester Police confirmed that two men, aged in their 20s and 30s, were arrested on suspicion of voyeurism following the alleged incident, which took place on Deansgate on 19 September. The force stated that both men have since been released on bail while further enquiries continue.

Upskirting — the practice of taking photos or videos underneath a person's clothing without their consent — has been a criminal offence in England and Wales since 2019, following a lengthy campaign to outlaw the practice. Those convicted of the offence can face up to two years in prison. Despite the legal protections now in place, campaigners argue that the crime remains significantly underreported and frequently trivialised.

Georgia described confronting the men directly. "You've just recorded us, please can you delete it," she told them. Rather than complying, she said the situation escalated. "At that point I broke down and started crying because I was in utter shock," she recalled.

The mother-of-two expressed her distress at the uncertainty of what might happen to the footage. "I was in a situation where this bloke got footage up my dress, and he's gone off with it — I don't know what he's going to do with that footage," she said. According to Georgia, one of the men was "shouting all sorts" while the other stayed "oddly quite close" to her, creating an intimidating atmosphere.

She attempted to seek assistance from people nearby, but said her pleas went unanswered. "Not one person batted an eyelid," she said, describing the sense of isolation she felt in the moment.

Alex also repeatedly asked one of the men to delete the recording. When he began to run away, she took off her heels and chased after him. It was only at that point that a bouncer intervened and stopped the second man. Both individuals were subsequently arrested.

Georgia acknowledged that without the bouncer's intervention, the men might have escaped accountability entirely. "If he hadn't done that, they would have just got off, and I would have had to live with the fact that all happened," she said.

She reflected on how the experience overshadowed what had been a positive evening. "I'd gone out to town, we got our hair done and our make-up done, and I felt good, but that whole feeling just went away," she said. The following morning brought an "overwhelming sense of sadness" as she processed the events of the night before.

Georgia also expressed frustration with how she was questioned by police. She said the first question she was asked was whether she was sure the man had been recording her. "It embeds a seed of doubt," she noted, highlighting concerns that victims of such crimes are often met with scepticism rather than support.

She called for a broader shift in how society addresses violence against women and harassment. "The message that I want to put out is that telling women to be hyper-vigilant on a night out — you know, be aware of your surroundings and what you drink — isn't a solution," she said. "It's barely a plaster over what is a massive issue."

Alex echoed her sister's determination not to be silenced. "They picked the wrong two girls that night," she said. "We are not going to be belittled, and we will defend ourselves, and we received a whole load of abuse."

She described the emotional impact of the incident in stark terms. "You're not going to violate me, my sister, or anyone in that manner and think you can get away with it," she said. "You just feel violated. It's the complete disrespect. It taints every good emotion that you were feeling before it happened."

Alex also criticised the way such offences are perceived more broadly. "I feel like it is a crime that is so minimalised and normalised, and it is almost like you have to accept what has happened," she said. "The norm should be calling out perversion and harassment."

The sisters' account comes amid growing national concern about the prevalence of covert filming and the use of technology to harass and exploit women. A BBC investigation published earlier this year found that men were covertly filming women during nights out and profiting from the footage, raising questions about how platforms and authorities respond to such material.

For Georgia and Alex, sharing their story is part of a wider effort to challenge the culture that enables such behaviour. They hope their experience will encourage other victims to come forward and push for stronger responses from both law enforcement and the public.

Greater Manchester Police have asked anyone with information about the incident to contact them as their investigation continues.