This is what happens when your nudes get stolen

The number of young Australians who have reported image-based abuse has sharply risen over the past year, with instances almost doubling.

Of the reports made by people aged 13-24:

More than 1000 reports were made to the eSafety Commissioner in the first three months of 2022. This increased from 400 during the same period last year. 2022 There were 670 reports 2021 There were 370 reports

Image based abuse is:

the distribution of sexually explicit images or videos of individuals without their consent. In common parlance, it's often called “revenge porn”.

RISING

eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant says the pandemic lent itself to more intimacy being shared online, and people were more likely to use "digital intimacy tools" to connect. "Norms were changing and people were using digital intimacy tools during these periods of mandatory isolation… We also saw more of what we call sexual extortion, scams," she says.

She added that 75% of reports were female, and the eSafety office had a 90% success rate in taking down unwanted, explicit online material.

The rise in revenge porn has prompted authorities to roll out a new campaign, ‘SCROLL’, across TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, to let young people know what they can do when things go wrong online. Image: eSafety Commission

Along with revenge porn, the campaign will deal with issues like cyberbullying and online consent. A survey of 3500 young people in 2021 found more than 70% of 14-to 17-year-olds saw sexual images sent in the past year. Video: eSafety Commission

Nearly half of children aged eight to 17 were treated in a hurtful way online in the past year.

WORDS: Ellie Dudley PRODUCER: Bianca Farmakis Read more

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