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Receiving unsolicited nude pics on social media is part of the reality of owning a smart phone, say teenagers

A group of teenage girls from New South Wales are fed up with receiving 'dick pics'(ABC South East NSW: Ruby Mitchell)

The popularity of social media apps like Snapchat and Instagram has seen unsolicited nude photos reaching the inboxes of high school students as young as 13, so what can parents — and policymakers — do about it?

Some teenagers feel the practice has become normalised and is now a part of the reality of owning a smart phone.

Ruby De Rover, who finished high school on the NSW far south coast last year, said she believed that every girl in her school past Year 9 would have received an unwanted "nude" or had an interaction of that kind.

She was 15 when she first received an unwanted photo on Instagram.

"There was no introduction, no message, just a 'dick pic'," she said.

"It's come to a point where it's just normal and a part of what happens."

What can be done?

Snapchat app loaded onto an iPhone, sitting on a surface
Girls as young as 13 are receiving unrequested pics on apps like Snapchat and Instagram.(Flickr: Adam Przezdziek)

Bronnie Taylor, a Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council, was involved in the introduction of revenge porn laws, and has also been working to introduce nurses into schools so young people feel they have someone to talk to.

Ms Taylor said young women did not have enough options and there needed to be a push for laws punishing abusive behaviour.

"Sometimes the only option is to go to the police and ask for an Apprehended Violence Order [AVO] and that's something that can be really daunting for a 16-year-old," she said.

The laws differ from state to state and because the photographs are being shared between minors, legislation enters 'child pornography' territory.

For example, in Queensland, Western Australia and NSW there are laws against the possession, production and dissemination of pornographic material if that material depicts someone under 16 years old.

In the Australian Capital Territory, the Northern Territory, Tasmania, and Victoria the legislation relates to material depicting a person under 18 years of age.

A teenager with long brown hair holds an iphone with their hands.
Under federal law, it's illegal for anyone under 18 to take a nude photo of themselves.(ABC South East NSW: Ruby Mitchell)

Ahram Choi from Youth Law Australia said under Commonwealth law, it was illegal for anyone under 18 to snap a nude picture of themselves, whether they sent it or not, meaning a nude selfie could technically be classed as possession of child pornography.

Janet Wight from the Youth Advocacy Centre said online harassment laws were outdated and criminalised young people rather than dealing with the core issues.

"We need a nuanced response to fix this situation and I don't think criminal law is the way to do that," Ms Wight said.

Ms Choi also said that legal action was a tricky path to go down in terms of achieving justice for victims or solving the issues at hand.

She said there had been cases targeting the spread of revenge porn material but she had not seen a case involving a charge against someone sending a one-off 'dick pic', only when harassment continued over a long period of time.

"I think it's really important to have updated laws that target abusive online behaviour," Ms Choi said.

"I don't think going through the criminal system is necessarily the best way to deal with this, especially when you're dealing with minors."

Is education key?

Pearl Mitchell (centred) with her two young friends smiling
Student Pearl Mitchell (centre) believes social media has 'upgraded' sexual harassment but is not the root cause.(Facebook: Pearl Mitchell)

High school student Pearl Mitchell said a cultural change and education were needed, rather than criminalising young people.

"Our society teaches us some weird things about sex and masculinity," she said.

"We need a massive cultural shift and realistic sex education programs that don't just involve cartoon reproductive videos."

Sex educator Natasha Gillezeau said accepting social media was part of people's sexual experience was the key to delivering successful education programs.

"During my work I've found that kids are hesitant to talk to adults because we tend to jump instantly on the anti-social media bandwagon," she said.

Ms De Rover said switching off your phone was not the solution.

"Parents and teachers act like this is surprising, but casual sexual harassment existed in their day too, it was just done differently," she said.

"Social media is not the devil here. We need to think a lot more deeply about how and why they think it's okay."

Why are they doing it?

Having worked with a number of adolescents, Ms Gillezeau has some theories about the pressure that is placed on boys in high school.

"They're thinking about themselves and how other boys see them more than they're thinking about the women or the teenagers they're potentially trying to connect with."

Similarly, 17-year-old Jaxsen said that sex and girls were hot conversation topics for boys in high school.

He said a lot of it was about asserting their manhood or finding their place.

A young man from the waist up, smiling
Brogan Drasic says a "bro-dudey" culture and the pressure to fit in are behind the behaviour.(Supplied: Brogan Drasic)

"You get the impression that it's them trying to validate themselves and it's more about them trying to prove themselves to the group," Jaxsen said.

High schooler Brogan Drasic said he grew up surrounded by a "bro-dudey" culture that he believed paved the way for this kind of behaviour.

"You're more likely to fit in with the 'top dogs' if you're making it sound like girls are just there to have sex with them," he said.

Pearl Mitchell is the author Ruby Mitchell's sister.


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