The conversation around ‘revenge porn’ and just how fkn disgusting it is dominated much of 2015 – i.e. this buttload of content – namely and unfortunately because 500 women in South Australia had their nudes / intimate photos published without permission by some absolute arsebag.



The upside of all this is that laws around revenge porn is now getting debated at a federal level, with both an inquiry into it launched last year and Federal Labor MP Terri Butler co-sponsoring a private member’s bill last month to make this shit illegal at both state and federal levels. It’s an absolutely fantastic move, but new research shows that changes in attitudes as well as the law are needed.



A recent survey of 600 Australian teenage girls age 15–19 found that 58% agree that girls often receive uninvited or unwanted indecent or sexually explicit material (i.e. texts, video clips, or straight-up porn), while 51% reckon that girls are often pressured to take and share nudes / semi-nudes. That’s compared to just 12% and 25% who disagree respectively.



The survey – which was a joint effort between Plan International Australia and Our Watch – found that women were experiencing “endemic” levels of abuse and harassment online.





“This is alarming, outright cyberbulling, and dangerous, as [the pressure to take sexual photos and share them online] can lead to low self-esteem and depression among victims,” said Susanne Legena, Plan International Australia’s Deputy Chief Executive Officer.

She continued: “Australian youth are some of the world’s most digitally literate, using smartphones, laptops and tablets at very young ages, yet this survey shows the online world has also become a platform in which Australian young women and girls face abuse and harassment. “Despite being unwanted, almost 60% of recipients believe girls receive unwanted sexual photos, messages and videos; this form of abuse is reaching girls inside their homes and bedrooms.”



There was a theme among participants of wanting more education and communication about online harassment etc in schools, and better communication between staff and students. One 16yo who took part in the study said she wanted “more training at an earlier age within schools to explain the dangers of online predators and safety by actually having people who have experience it talking to them so they know it is real and it can happen,” while another – also 16 – said she wanted “better communication, especially with online bullying” between schools and students.

Pretty sensible stuff, really.

But meanwhile, we’re going to keep writing about it until this vile misogynistic practise that pressures women into expressing more sexuality than they’re comfortable with and then shaming them for it is bloody done with.

Source: Plan International Australia / Our Watch.