One in four young girls who sent nude pictures of themselves in the last year said they felt pressured into it. Amongst 16-year-olds, the proportion is 40 percent.
The figures come from the Media Authority’s report, which was published recently. Much of the reason may be the combination of an “increasingly sexualized culture” and that children and young people largely communicates with pictures, explained Kaja Hegg of Save the Children to the newspaper VG.
– For a a child and teenager this is about showing off. Social media is used for flirting, to get attention and to find a boyfriend, she says.
But Hegg also makes clear that it is not just the want of attention that lays behind the exchange of pictures.
– It can also happen as a result of great pressure. Sexualized sites pose a risk to children and may lead to a form of normalization of sending pictures, and there is extreme pressure on both boys and girls in society today. It is no wonder that young people have problems understanding the boundaries and consequences, says Hegg, who is a sociologist with Save the Children and an adviser for abuse on the Internet.
Justice Minister Anders Anundsen (FRP) believes the proliferation and sharing of private, intimate images are “the ultimate breach of trust.” He warns that such sharing is also criminal.
It is therefore important and appropriate to press charges, says Anundsen.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today
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