Digital technologies have transformed and expanded people’s lives in many aspects. The flip side of such technology is that it has also enabled the perpetration of image-based sexual abuse (McGlynn, Rackley, & Houghton, 2017). Lawmakers around the world have tried to regulate and combat these emerging forms of detrimental behaviours. Yet, little is known about how young people perceive this issue in their online interactions. The purpose of this study is to better understand the experience and perception of image-based sexual abuse among Australian young adults. This study also seeks to explore how young Australians conceptualise ‘sexual privacy’ in their online interactions (Citron, 2019). Thus far, scholarly attention has largely been directed at the conceptualisation of image-based abuse and its associated problems (McGlynn et al., 2017); the prevalence of the image-based abuse, and regulatory approaches to combatting image-based sexual abuse (Henry & Powell, 2016; Henry, Powell, & Flynn, 2017). At the time of this writing, relatively few studies have delved into the issue of image-based sexual abuse by examining how young people are “normalising” sharing sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude images in their daily interactions online. In addition, there is a gap in scholarship about how young people conceptualise their ‘sexual privacy’ in this context. This study aims to fill these gaps in the literature.
To accomplish the goals of the study, five focus groups were conducted with 20 first-year Australian university students aged 18-21. Female participants were more likely to be involved in image-based online interactions and stressful dramas; however, they continued to use social media perceiving it as an integral part of their socialising. They appeared to cope with such unpleasant and even threatening experiences online through peer support by sharing their stories with other friends of similar ages. Having grown up in a digital world where sharing images and videos is common, young adults are adapting to the digital environment in their own way. They recognise the benefits of online participation as well as the risks that such image-based online interactions can bring, constantly negotiating boundaries through everyday online interactions. This study will shed light on our understanding of young people’s creation, sharing, and the implications of both consensually and non-consensually created sexual images. The findings of this study will provide policymakers with insight into how to approach and view emerging forms of detrimental online behaviours through a better understanding of how young people perceive and experience the issue in their everyday lives.
References
Citron, D. K. (2019). Sexual privacy. Yale Law Journal, 128(7), 1870-1960.
Henry, N., & Powell, A. (2016). Sexual violence in the digital age: The scope and limits of criminal law. Social & Legal Studies, 25(4), 397-418.
Henry, N., Flynn, A., & Powell, A. (2018). Policing image-based sexual abuse: Stakeholder perspectives. Police Practice and Research, 19(6), 565-581.
McGlynn, C., Rackley, E., & Houghton, R. (2017). Beyond ‘revenge porn’: The continuum of image-based sexual abuse. Feminist Legal Studies, 25(1), 25-46.