Teens’ online sex harassment shock

NEARLY a third of young teenage girls in the UK have been sexually harassed online by children their own age, a study has found.

Research by charity Childnet found 31% of girls aged 13-17 had been targeted with unwanted sexual attention over the internet, compared with 11% of boys.

One in 10 young people reported receiving threats of sexual violence, including rape, the survey of 1,559 teenagers found, while 31% have witnessed it happen.

So-called revenge porn was also shown to be prevalent among children, with 51% of those surveyed, aged between 13 and 17, having seen it circulated.

Revenge porn was recently outlawed by the Government and is defined as the sharing of private, often sexual or explicit material, photos or videos, of another person without their consent.

Nearly a quarter of teenagers (23%), meanwhile, know of someone secretly taking sexual images of another person and sharing it online, known as “upskirting”, according to the research.

The Childnet report examined sexual harassment in four categories — nonconsensual sharing of explicit material, threats and coercion, sexualised bullying and unwanted sexualisation.

Its release comes as the Government prepares new guidance on sexual harassment in schools. Will Gardner, chief executive of Childnet, said: “Digital technology plays a central role in young people’s lives but it has opened the door for a range of new forms of sexual harassment, making societal discussions about these issues more pertinent than ever. It is evidently something that as a society we can no longer ignore.”

Among the report’s other findings was that more than a quarter (26%) of UK teenagers had been the victim of online rumours about their sexual behaviour.

And 12% of teenagers claimed they had been pressured by their partner into sharing nude images.

Many have also had sexual comments posted on images they shared of themselves online, a problem reported by 33% of girls and 14% of boys.

Fake profiles have become a common way for offenders to circulate sexual material, the study found.

Almost a third of teenagers (31%) had seen such profiles.

Mr Gardner added: “This report underlines how essential it is that we all work together to ensure that online sexual harassment is not an inevitable part of growing up.”