Receiving unsolicited ‘dick pics’ entirely normalised for second-level pupils
Girls experienced more digital harassment of a sexual nature than boys by a significant difference, including heightened experiences since Covid-19.
Receiving unsolicited ‘dick pics’ and pressure to send nude images have become almost entirely normalised for secondary school students, a landmark new study from Dublin City University has found.
The study by Dr Debbie Ging and Dr Ricardo Castellini da Silva called, Young People’s Experiences of Sexual and Gender-based Harassment and Abuse During the Covid-19 Pandemic in Ireland: Incidence, Intervention and Recommendations, is being launched on Tuesday. It contains some of the first statistics on cyber flashing and other forms of image-based sexual abuse among Irish youths.
While girls experienced more online harms than boys, LGBTQ+ students experienced more online harms than heterosexual students, the study found.
Girls experienced more digital harassment of a sexual nature than boys by a significant difference, including heightened experiences since Covid-19. Roughly twice as many girls (33.3%) as boys (17.4%) received unwanted sexual photos from friends, adult strangers, and people they know only online.
Some 15.1% of boys and 32.2% of girls were asked to send sexual photos or videos of themselves online, and 36.7% of girls and 20% of boys said this increased since Covid-19 started.
Significantly more girls (18.8%) than boys (1.2%) said they were pressured to send sexually explicit photos/videos of themselves pre-Covid. While post-Covid, that behaviour increased massively by 40% for girls. For boys it increased by 7.1%.
Social media use increased significantly during the Covid-19 pandemic. YouTube was the most widely used platform during the pandemic overall (89.2%) and for boys (93%). For girls it was Instagram (93.3%). Use of TikTok increased hugely during this period, with 86.2% of girls and 61.5% of boys saying they spent more time on it since the pandemic started.
The pandemic had a greater negative impact on girls and LGBQ+ students. 57.8% of girls and 63.6% of LGBQ+ students said that social distancing measures had significantly impacted on their mental health, compared with 30.2% of boys and 39% of heterosexual students. The mental health of non-binary and transgender students (55%) was also more negatively impacted than those identifying as cisgendered (31.8%).
100% of girls and 90% of boys said the workshops conducted in schools as part of the study improved their knowledge of what sexual violence is and the different forms it takes. 100% of girls and 90.9% of boys said they would apply the content of the workshop to their relations with others.
Many students expressed dissatisfaction with both the content and delivery of Relationship and Sex Education. Participants reported that the current provision of RSE does not adequately address the realities of mediated intimacy, digital abuse or gender inequality, nor is it sufficiently inclusive of LGBTQ+ perspectives.
The report presents the findings from 185 surveys and 10 focus groups conducted with 60 young people aged 15-17 in 2021. This project was developed as part of a two-country study involving Ireland (DCU Anti-Bullying Centre) and England (Institute of Education, University College London).
Leading academic Dr Jessica Ringrose, Professor of Sociology of Gender and Education at Institute of Education (IOE), University College London's Faculty of Education and Society, is collaborating on the research and will be at the report launch in Dublin on Tuesday.
Prof. Ringrose said that parental resistance to educating young people about relationships and sex can be a barrier to necessary progress. Some parents are now trolling academics, viciously abusing them online for the work they do to improve relationship and sex education in a bid to keep young people safer.
Research shows that nine out of 10 young women and girls in UK schools have experienced or witnessed sexist name-calling and being sent unwanted 'dick pics' or other images of a sexual nature and an increase in gender-based abuse among youths has been noted in both Ireland and the UK.
Prof Ringrose said:
And misinformation is not reserved for parents. Relationship and sex education workshops have found that some 16-20% of teenage boys believe that rape statistics are 'fake' and that sexual abuse of females is not anywhere near as common as it actually is. Such misinformation takes dedicated de-programming and consistent education to build a culture of respect and consent, Prof. Ringrose said.
“A lot of times, parents and teachers are scared of exploring these issues with young people. But the reality is they’re already receiving this content on social media platforms, and we need to be responsible ourselves and provide supportive environments to work with young people to support them in the ways they need.
"The only option is education. The more young people know how to protect themselves online, the more they understand issues to do with sex education and keeping themselves safe and healthy, the better they’ll be in their relationships, moving into their adult lives as well.
Shaming of female sexual activity - be it rumored or real - is common and a very gendered phenomenon, Prof. Ringrose said.
"Shaming of sexual activity tends to be of girls and women. There are double standards – boys and men are commended and rewarded for evidence of their sexual prowess or activity, whereas girls and women are shamed. This a way to try to shame and show dominance over girls and women.
"Our workshops [which have now been delivered both in Ireland and the UK] cover the continuum of sexual violence and how the banal, every day sexism connects up into legitimating other forms of sexual violence."
