"Verity Nevitt was just 21, a student living away from home for the first time, when she learned she and her twin sister, Lucy, were going to be sued in the high court. Someone knocked on the door of her London house share with a big bundle of papers and asked her to sign for them. A year earlier, the sisters had reported a man to the police, accusing him of sexually assaulting Verity and then, after she had left the house, raping Lucy. When the case was dropped by police, they decided to name him on social media, in order to warn others."
"Their world was turned upside down: they had been the alleged victims but now they were the ones having to defend themselves. Twins Lucy Nevitt (with hairband) and Verity Nevitt in the House of Lords for the launch of the Index on Censorship report in October 2025. Photograph: Verity Nevitt I didn't want to engage with it, Verity says. The biggest difficulty for me was knowing he was abusing this process, I didn't want it to be entertained. It was so audacious."
"The sisters eventually reached an out-of-court agreement. Having waived their right to anonymity they could talk about the case in the media and share many of the details, but could not name the man. Since then they have campaigned on behalf of victims of sexual violence through their own nonprofit, the Gemini Project. One of their main objectives is to end the use of legal threats and vexatious lawsuits against those who speak out."
"The practice is known as strategic litigation against public participation, or Slapp. The government defines Slapps as an abuse of the legal process, where the primary objective is to harass, intimidate and financially and psychologically exhaust one's opponent via improper means. Industry watchdog the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) says most cases often do not even reach court, because a letter from a solicitor can be enough to make the"
Verity Nevitt and her twin sister Lucy were accused of being sued in the High Court after they reported a man to police for sexual assault. The police dropped the case, and the sisters named him on social media to warn others. The man sued them for misuse of private information, harassment, and defamation, reversing their roles from alleged victims to defendants. The sisters later reached an out-of-court agreement that allowed them to discuss the case publicly while waiving anonymity, but they could not name the man. They then campaigned through their nonprofit, the Gemini Project, to end legal threats and vexatious lawsuits against people who speak out. The practice is known as SLAPP, defined as abuse of legal process intended to harass, intimidate, and financially and psychologically exhaust an opponent.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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