Why do so many men turn bad...?

The courts would have a field day shaming young girls who had sent the pictures ... call me cynical but my guess is that the males would say it was unprovoked or simply they'd manage to evade any media hype or stigma or it would boil down to 'boys will be boys'.

Sadly, a lot of people who should be waving red flags at this, mainly pomo feminists who are all into bodies and whatnot, are seeing this as liberating or experimentation, etc. and are completely blind to the sexual politics behind it (and seemingly to the future implications it could have on girls). Between them and the bloody TRA's I spend most of my time hiding under a rock these days.

Exactly rebel.

A great weakness of our system of justice is that it is based on property and damage. This has led to the idea that there needs to be some "thing" that can be presented as proof. A broken window. A signed contract. A picture of the victim with a bruised eye. And laws are thus designed with this in mind.

When this particular law was written, they chose to go with the image as proof because it could be shown and printed and held up. It is tangible. But as with porn, the image is not the real problem. The problem is the conditions surrounding the act. Was the actress forced/coerced? Was the young girl in the image groomed and pressured?

Seems pretty easy to me

Agree Datun. All children should understand that it's both wrong and illegal.

If the campaign said that it was illegal to both ask for and send nude photographs if you are under 16/18. A girl would have recourse if she was asked. Being able to reply:

"I'm not doing that, it's illegal!"

Is much easier to say than 'um...er, I don't know. You won't show them to anyone, will you?'

If the campaign said that it was illegal to both ask for and send nude photographs if you are under 16/18. A girl would have recourse if she was asked. Being able to reply:

"I'm not doing that, it's illegal!"

Is much easier to say than 'um...er, I don't know. You won't show them to anyone, will you?'

TV advertising and poster campaign would be a good idea.

make

I know. Because it is she who has been pressurised in the first place, more likely than the other way around.

But, there seems to be and epidemic of this kind of pressure.

Asking an underage girl (or boy) for nude photos might be the starting point.

And nailing home the message that it is illegal is very important, in my opinion.

Now I'm picturing some young girl being hauled in front of the court. It has the feel of victim blaming.

Personally, I think perception has a lot to do with this.

Take false accusations of rape, for example. There is a very small chance of this ever happening. But because cases are highlighted in the media, a lot of boys (and men) think it's fairly common place.

Males seem to be in a constant state of disgruntlement over what they consider 'grey areas'. However, because the perception is that women everywhere are waiting to trap them with false accusations of rape, they know damn well they have to be bloody sure of consent.

If the media suddenly started reporting a small number of cases where teens were getting hauled in for sending/distributing pics, I think the perception would suddenly be that all and sundry were being targeted, fear of repercussions would spread and behaviour would change. Currently there are zero sanctions for what is not only criminal but very, very damaging to all concerned.

Have a massive campaign telling youngsters the law and leave them in no doubt that there is going to be a crackdown. If you break it, you pay.

I'm not sure you can effectively address the cause. Teenage boys are getting free nude pictures at the click of a button. But you can address the behaviour.

I don't think it would take long for pressuring girls to send naked pictures is seen as the unpleasant and sleazy issue it is.

Course, then there's the issue of porn.

Fair enough Laura and I think your suggestion is a good one.

The law doesn't, Laura.

HTH

that might be the case, but a law cannot exempt a person of a crime on the basis of their gender.

Well (and I think we should not be so hard on people admitting this) my real answer is I don't really know.

Make that might be the case, but a law cannot exempt a person of a crime on the basis of their gender.

No doubt there are cases of girls requesting pics from boys? What happens then?

Well I think the feminist approach, one that I agree with, is that there is a difference in social conditions/power structures in areas like this. As with pornography, male actors may indeed suffer, but the brunt of harm is to women.

Venus child pornography is illegal but not enough under 18's understand sexting to come under that law - and, indeed, it only very technically does - which is why there have been hardly any children convicted under that law. There should be a separate law (say 'communicating sexual media of a child') that clearly establishes sexting as illegal in its own right, just for clarity's sake. Too many kids think child pornography is something that exists in dark corners of the web made by adults while sexting is something quite different and perfectly normal. Or at least that's what I hear, and it's quite shocking.

I think the only way to address it is to make sexting wholly illegal for under 18's. Then there is no ambiguity and children know where they stand.

Thing is, it already is illegal for under sixteens to send naked photos. Even if it is of themself. The law isn't being enforced, for all the reasons we're talking about.

I'm not sure if kids know it is against the law. A high-profile campaign would probably help.

And yes laura, although I think it is largely girls who are being pressured, of course it does work both ways. Absolutely.

Sometimes I can't believe that sending pictures of your genitals is the new chat up line. In my day it was my mate fancies your mate.

I'm pretty sure it is already illegal for under 18s Laura.

www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/sexting/

Make No doubt there are cases of girls requesting pics from boys? What happens then?

Datun I agree in that sort of situation it's quite clear cut who's in the wrong. But there are I imagine incidents that are very ambiguious, legally and morally speaking.

Sexualised images of children have been a quite clear cut issie in the past. They were either made by paedophiles or sold to paedophiles by criminal organizations.

But if sexting is a normal part of children's lives then a lot of these images are being created and disseminated by children themselves. Who is then criminalized? The creator? The recipient? What if the recipient didn't request the image?

It would depend I suppose depend on the situation, but will be very hard to codify legally.

I think the only way to address it is to make sexting wholly illegal for under 18's. Then there is no ambiguity and children know where they stand.

Would a boy sending a photo be any different? Also, how would you legally define 'requesting a picture'? What if the picture was sent without it being requested?

There are too many complications. Obviously if a child has been pressured or coerced into creating a pic or video then that's one thing; but if one child sends an unsolicited pic (or if both consent prior to the pic beong created) then who is legally culpable?

It speaks to the weakness of our system of justice. In order to create an objective consistent system (an easy system?) we have sacrificed subjectivity, truth and fairness. This may be the situation with sexual assault, he says she was willing, she says she wasn't and the prosecution, seeing difficulties ahead, decides not to pursue. Is it justice?

But these things aren't easy. Choosing to write a law that punishes a young girl when she may have been pressured into something is easy and lazy.

I would agree that resending and distribution should carry a higher penalty.

Education on the security of social media should actively and vociferously state that the sending and receiving of nude photos is an offence.

And, I'm just thinking out loud, but how about the sending of a photo is a mild offence, as is the receiving. But the resending or distribution is a severe offence. Also the request for a photo is a severe offence.

laura

I agree it's difficult, but that shouldn't mean it's not something to consider. The mother of that youngster who has gone on to 'Yellow' is it? The teenage version of tinder, I think. Impersonating her daughter as soon as she swiped 'like' the reply was 'tits plse'. And a variations on that theme, over and over.

I've noticed that 1. Too many kids that shouldn't (way under 13)have instagram,snapchat,whatsapp,facebook etc. , 2. Despite various e safety talks,the focus is on the boogey man/stranger/potential pedophile. Not one that i have witnessed raised the issue of friend of a friend and not sending messages/pictures that you definitely wouldn't want others to see,no matter how well you know the recipient , 3. Again no mention of profile pictures and what is appropriate and what isn't ,even if your profile has really high security settings and 4. While there is talk about blocking,reporting and high security settings no specific instructions as to how find those options and use them.