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Law Reform Committee. Inquiry into sexting
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1 Law Reform Committee Inquiry into sexting May 2013
3 Inquiry into sexting Report of the Law Reform Committee for the Inquiry into Sexting ORDERED TO BE PRINTED Victorian Government Printer Parliamentary Paper No. 230, Session iii
4 Parliament of Victoria Law Reform Committee Inquiry into Sexting ISBN This report is printed on recycled paper. This report is also available at iv
5 Committee Members This Inquiry was conducted during the term of the 57th Parliament. The members of the Law Reform Committee are: Mr Clem Newton-Brown, MP (Chair) Ms Jane Garrett, MP (Deputy Chair) Mr Anthony Carbines, MP Mr Russell Northe, MP Mrs Donna Petrovich, MLC Staff For this Inquiry, the Committee was supported by a secretariat comprising: Executive Officer: Dr Vaughn Koops Research Officer: Ms Amie Gordon (until 22 March 2013) Administrative Officer: Ms Helen Ross-Soden v
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7 The Law Reform Committee The Victorian Parliament Law Reform Committee is constituted under the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003, as amended. The Committee comprises five members of Parliament drawn from both houses and all parties. The functions of the Law Reform Committee are, if so required or permitted under this Act, to inquire into, consider and report to the Parliament on any proposal, matter or thing concerned with a) legal, constitutional or parliamentary reform b) the administration of justice c) law reform. Committee Address Address: Parliament of Victoria Spring Street EAST MELBOURNE VIC 3002 Telephone: (03) Facsimile: (03) Internet: vii
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9 Terms of Reference Received from the Legislative Assembly on 1 September That, under s 33 of the Parliamentary Committees Act 2003, an inquiry into the creating, sharing, sending or posting of sexually explicit messages or images via the internet, mobile phones or other electronic devices by people, especially young people, (known as 'sexting') be referred to the Law Reform Committee for consideration and report no later than 30 June 2012 *, including: (1) the incidence, prevalence and nature of sexting in Victoria; (2) the extent and effectiveness of existing awareness and education about the social and legal effect and ramifications of sexting; (3) the appropriateness and adequacy of existing laws, especially criminal offences and the application of the sex offenders register, that may apply to the practice of sexting, particularly with regard to the creation, possession and transmission of sexually suggestive or explicit messages and images in circumstances where a person: (a) (b) creates, or consents to the creation of, the message or image for his or her own private use and/or the use of one or more other specific persons; or creates, or consents to the creation of, the message or image and without their knowledge and/or their consent the message or image is disseminated more broadly than the person intended. * The reporting date was extended to 30 December 2012 by resolution of the Legislative Assembly on 28 March The reporting date was further extended to 18 April 2013 by resolution of the Legislative Assembly on 12 December The reporting date was further extended to 30 May 2013 by resolution of the Legislative Assembly on 17 April ix
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11 Table of Contents Committee Members... v The Law Reform Committee... vii Terms of Reference... ix Table of Contents... xi List of Figures... xv List of Case Studies... xv Chair s Foreword... xvii Executive Summary... xix Table of Recommendations... xxiii Table of Findings... xxv List of Abbreviations... xxvii Chapter One: Introduction Background The origins of sexting Concerns leading to the Inquiry Context of the Inquiry Major concerns for the Inquiry Other relevant Inquiries Inquiry process Submissions and public hearings Study tour of Canada and the USA Chapter Two: Sexting: nature, incidence and prevalence The rise of connected technologies and social media Smartphone and social media use Examples of recent sexting incidents Sexting as a practice What is sexting? Young people and peer-to-peer sexting Adult recreational sexting Sexting in a family violence or coercive context Unauthorised intimate recordings Sexting in a sexually exploitative context How common is peer-to-peer sexting? Statistics Anecdotal evidence Why young people are peer-to-peer sexting Motivations for sexting Adolescent development The gendered nature of sexting Harmful consequences of peer-to-peer sexting Consequences for victims Consequences for disseminators and recipients Further research required Prevalence data Other considerations for future research Chapter Three: Education about sexting Awareness of the potential consequences of sexting Barriers to education about sexting Adolescent development Peer social expectations Inappropriately framed laws Inconsistent approaches by authorities xi
12 Inquiry into sexting Education not reflecting the experience of youth Popular portrayals of sex and communication Current school policies Education and awareness campaigns and resources DEECD and associated programs Improving education about sexting The focus of education campaigns about sexting Chapter Four: Sexting and the criminal law A brief history of child pornography laws Objectionable films and objectionable publications Offence for the possession of child pornography Other child pornography offences Commonwealth child pornography offences Current laws around sexting The age of criminal responsibility Child pornography offences Other criminal offences Consequences of conviction for child pornography offences Sex offender registration Working with children checks Police checks Chapter Five: Young people and the criminal justice system Special considerations for children and young adults Development of children and young adults Recognition of special needs of children and young adults Police and prosecution approaches Criminal procedure for child pornography offences Police discretion Cautions Lesser charges The decision to prosecute Diversion for adults Diversion for children Chapter Six: Appropriateness and adequacy of criminal laws Anomalies in the criminal law Age of consent Available defences for child pornography offences Changes to the criminal law Decriminalisation of consensual sexting Should peer-to-peer sexting be considered a child pornography offence? Defences to child pornography offences Arguments for and against a new offence for non-consensual sexting A new sexting offence Intimate, covert or unauthorised filming offence Discretionary sex offender registration Chapter Seven: Non-criminal law and sexting Current laws that may apply to sexting Copyright law Breach of confidence Intentional infliction of harm Defamation xii
13 Table of Contents Sexual harassment law Other areas of law Shortcomings of existing legal avenues Tort of privacy Current common law Proposals for a statutory privacy action Administrative mechanisms Current administrative mechanisms A body to hear complaints about online content The Committee s view Bibliography Appendix One: List of submissions Appendix Two: List of witnesses Appendix Three: List of briefings Appendix Four: Recommendations from the VLRC report Surveillance in public places xiii
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15 List of Figures Figure 1: Submissions to the Inquiry by type of organisation Figure 2: Stages of peer-to-peer sexting Figure 3: Sexting experiences by age List of Case Studies Case Study 1: Sexting in a family violence context Case Study 2: Shaun Rye Case Study 3: Distribution of indecent videos and stories Case Study 4: John Raymond Zimmerman Case Study 5: A.H. v. State (Florida) Case Study 6: Sexting behaviour resulting in a child pornography conviction Case Study 7: Sexual assault in Altona Meadows Case Study 8: ADFA webcam sex scandal Case Study 9: Robert Darren Fry Case Study 10: Mark Robert Stratford Case Study 11: Aaron Case Study 12: Cautioning juveniles involved in sexting Case Study 13: Giller v Procopets Case Study 14: Andrew Ettingshausen Case Study 15: Shepherd v Walsh Case Study 16: Lara Bingle and Brendan Fevola xv
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17 Chair s Foreword It is my pleasure to present the Law Reform Committee s final report on the Inquiry into Sexting. Communications technologies are rapidly transforming the way people communicate, form relationships with one another, and find information. For many young people interaction through social media is as natural as face-to-face interaction or conversations over the telephone. The use of online technologies by adults is also becoming ubiquitous, at home or work, through computers and mobile devices. As young people explore their emerging social selves through online media, some also explore their emerging sexual selves using these technologies. Some adults also make use of online media to express their sexuality. But when they do, the treatment of adults and young people under the law diverges significantly. Any explicit depiction of a minor is regarded as child pornography under the law, and young people commit an offence when they create, possess or distribute images of themselves or their peers. In contrast to laws surrounding child pornography which are so strong that they apply even to children who take pictures of themselves laws protecting people from non-consensual distribution of explicit images are relatively weak. There are few practical options for legal recourse when an adult allows an explicit picture of another adult to go viral by sending it to friends, or uploading it to a social media site, either for malicious reasons or out of disregard for the person depicted in the image. In the Committee s opinion, the laws that currently apply to sexting miss the mark the law does not adequately recognise that sexting by young people is different to the sharing of images by paedophiles, and the law does not adequately recognise that real and significant harm is done to people of all ages when explicit images are distributed to third parties without consent. The Committee has made two significant recommendations that it believes will address these shortcomings. First, the Committee recommends that an offence for non-consensual sexting be introduced in Victoria, to cover circumstances where a person intentionally distributes an intimate image of another person (or persons) without their consent (see page 152). Second, the Committee recommends that minors and young adults have a defence to child pornography offences, provided that they are able to engage in lawful sexual activity with the person depicted in an image (or other sexually explicit media), and that they are not more than two years older than any minor depicted in that image (see page 145). Of course, the Committee recognises that the law can be a blunt instrument to deal with practices as diverse and complicated as people s interaction online and through mobile devices. Judicial discretion is crucial, as is improved education. The prevalence of sexting within the community points to the need to educate people, and particularly young people, about cybersafety and xvii
18 Inquiry into sexting protecting their online selves. All of us also have a responsibility to determine what we want our new, online social world to be like. We need to be careful that the online social world we create does not undermine our aspirations for a safe and civil society. The Committee heard, for example, that sexting practices by young people often reinforce gendered stereotypes, such as that girls who send intimate images are promiscuous, whereas boys who send intimate images are simply having a bit of fun. The Committee also heard that there is more social pressure on girls to make and send intimate images of themselves than boys. The behaviour of celebrities and media representations of men and women also contribute to gendered expectations surrounding sexting. Some educational resources reinforce these stereotypes, by suggesting that when sexting goes wrong for example, when an intimate image of a girl is sent by her boyfriend to everyone in the school the girl could have prevented it by not giving her boyfriend the image. However, the actual harm is done in this scenario when the boy distributes the image without her consent. The Committee recommends that media and educational resources about sexting focus more critically on appropriate behaviour by participants in sexting. Education that effectively blames the victim is unlikely to be effective when there is significant social and media pressure for young people to participate in sexting. This has been a very thought-provoking and interesting Inquiry. The Committee has grappled with the same issues being experienced by jurisdictions around the world. I would like to thank all of the individuals and organisations that took the time and effort to provide the Committee with submissions, and to attend public and in-camera hearings. I would also like to thank the many individuals and organisations that hosted the Committee as it undertook international consultations on this important issue. Your views, advice and opinions were extremely useful to the Committee. This is the last report that will be tabled by the current membership of the Law Reform Committee. I would like to commend all members of the Committee Ms Jane Garrett MP (Deputy Chair), Mr Anthony Carbines MP, Mr Russell Northe MP, and Mrs Donna Petrovich MLC on their contribution to this report and to the Committee s activities in the 57 th Parliament. Members of the Committee have adopted a remarkably collegial approach to the work of the Committee, and as a result the Committee has made a substantial bipartisan contribution to the work of the Parliament. Finally, I would like to thank the Committee staff for their ongoing dedication to the work of the Committee and for their excellent contribution toward this Report: the Executive Officer, Dr Vaughn Koops; the Research Officer, Ms Amie Gordon; and the Administrative Officer, Ms Helen Ross-Soden. Mr Clem Newton-Brown MP Chair xviii
19 Executive Summary Chapter One: Introduction The Inquiry into Sexting was sent to the Law Reform Committee by the Victorian Parliament following media reports that teens were being charged with child pornography offences when they sent explicit images of themselves or their peers by or phone, or if they published them online. These media reports also raised concerns that teens charged with these offences would find themselves registered on the Sex Offenders Register. For the purpose of this Inquiry, sexting was defined by the Parliament as the creating, sharing, sending or posting of sexually explicit messages or images via the internet, mobile phones or other electronic devices by people, especially young people. The principal issues considered by the Committee in this report are: whether child pornography charges are appropriate for minors who participate in sexting; the extent to which young people are listed on the Sex Offenders Register for sexting-related offences, and whether registration is appropriate for these offences; and whether there are adequate legal and other protections available to people who are affected by sexting-related incidents. A number of reviews on matters related to sexting have been conducted in recent years, focusing either on the management of sexual offenders registers, or on the adequacy of laws surrounding the use of communications technologies, including telecommunications, and online surveillance and communications technologies. The Committee received submissions from and conducted public hearings with a wide range of individuals and organisations during the course of this Inquiry, including individuals affected by sexting, academics, police, legal aid organisations, the judiciary, youth support services, community organisations, and education sector representatives. Chapter Two: Sexting: nature, incidence and prevalence Sexting may occur on a wide range of media, including text-only messages, images, or videos, and may encompass a wide range of behaviours. These may include consensual and non-consensual distribution, and criminal or non-criminal acts. For this Inquiry the Committee focused primarily on sexting involving images. While sexting can involve text-only communication, in most cases the potential for greatest harm is likely to arise from the transmission of images. In the context of sexting, images of minors are likely to be considered child pornography under current Victorian law, and so are likely xix
20 Inquiry into sexting to have the most significant deleterious legal consequences for young people. Apart from the legal repercussions of sexting by young people, the greatest harms that are likely to arise from sexting occur with the non-consensual distribution of sexting images. Typically this occurs when a person who obtained an image from another person with their consent sends that image on to other people without consent. Participation rates in sexting by young people in Australia are uncertain. Some surveys suggest that up to 40 per cent of young girls have been asked to send naked or semi-naked images of themselves, while others report that these requests are far less frequent, with one survey finding just 7.3 per cent of young girls had received such requests. Anecdotal evidence suggests that sexting is not uncommon. The Committee heard that a range of factors influence young people s participation in sexting, including the availability of technology, the desire to initiate or maintain intimate relationships, peer pressure, or simply as a response to a request. The Committee also heard that there are gender differences in sexting, and that there appears to be greater pressure on girls to participate in sexting, and greater repercussions for girls when sexting messages go viral. Chapter Three: Education about sexting The Committee received evidence suggesting that most young people are unaware of the potential legal repercussions from participating in sexting. Evidence suggests that most young people do not believe consensual sexting between peers should be a criminal offence. There are a number of barriers to education for young people about sexting. These include: that young people may be developmentally less able to make informed decisions about their personal safety; that many young people do not regard sexting as inherently risky; that sexting is regarded as an unremarkable social practice; and that popular representations of men and women s behaviours promote sexting practices. While a number of programs are currently promoted through the Victorian education system, there are opportunities to improve sexting education and cybersafety education more generally in the school curriculum. It is important, however, to ensure that sexting education does not reinforce and embed gender stereotypes. This could be achieved by ensuring that education about sexting focuses on the appropriateness of the behaviour of people who distribute sexting images without consent, rather than suggesting that the person depicted in the sexting image is responsible for the harms she or he suffers. xx
21 Executive Summary Chapter Four: Sexting and the criminal law Child pornography laws have developed over time to cover a wide range of images and texts involving minors. Penalties associated with child pornography offences have also increased significantly over recent decades. In 2004 child pornography laws were altered to include images of people aged 16 and 17 years old, which has created an anomalous situation in which the age of consent does not correlate with child pornography offences. This means that while it is lawful for a 16- or 17-year-old to engage in sexual activity, it is unlawful for an image to be captured of that sexual activity. A range of criminal offences can currently be applied to sexting, depending on the circumstances in which the sexting occurs. For young people, child pornography offences may apply. Commonwealth criminal legislation, both for child pornography and for using a carriage service to menace, harass, or cause offence, may also apply. Sexting may also, depending on the circumstances, breach laws surrounding the use of surveillance devices, and laws relating to coercive offences, such as stalking and blackmail. Chapter Five: Young people and the criminal justice system Generally, child pornography offences are applicable to sexting by young people. Police are able to exercise discretion when choosing how to deal with specific sexting incidents, and are able to issue cautions to minors. There are limits on the capacity of police to offer cautions, however, determined by policies outlined in the Victoria Police Manual. These include that cautions can only be offered in relation to sexual offences in exceptional circumstances, and that police will not ordinarily offer a second caution to an offender. Diversion may also be offered to offenders for sexting-related offences, although the Committee heard that police informants may be reluctant to offer diversion in some cases because of the seriousness of child pornography offences. The Committee recommends that Victoria Police review its policies to examine whether, in certain circumstances, diversion could be offered for sexting-related offences where there is no evidence of exploitative behaviour by the offender. Chapter Six: Appropriateness and adequacy of criminal laws There are some anomalies in criminal law where it is lawful for minors aged 16 and 17 to engage in sexual activity, but it is illegal for those minors to obtain images of this activity. The Committee also notes that there are currently defences available for the possession of child pornography: where the minor, or one of the minors, depicted in the image is the accused; and when the person who made, took, or was given the image was not more than two years older xxi
22 Inquiry into sexting than the minor depicted in it at the time. While these defences cover the possession of child pornography, they do not cover the production, invitation to produce, or transmission of images of a minor. The majority of submissions and public evidence received by the Committee during the course of the Inquiry considered current legislation to be inadequate. Many suggested that consensual sexting between young people should be decriminalised, and most argued that child pornography offences for this behaviour were inappropriate. The Committee proposes that new defences be made available to child pornography offences, so that young people who possess or distribute sexual images or other media of their peers are not liable to prosecution under child pornography laws in certain circumstances. These defences will not apply, for example, where the age difference between the person who possesses the image or media and the person depicted in it is greater than two years. However, the Committee recognises that the distribution of intimate images and media without consent is a serious matter, whether the person depicted in the image or media is a minor or an adult. For this reason, and to complement defences to child pornography offences, the Committee recommends that a new criminal offence for non-consensual sexting be introduced. Chapter Seven: Non-criminal law and sexting A range of non-criminal laws may also apply to sexting, including copyright law, breach of confidence, intentional infliction of harm, and defamation. However, in general, these laws do not provide effective redress for circumstances where harm is done through the distribution of sexting images or media without the consent of the person depicted in that image or media. A number of reports have considered the adequacy of current laws to deal with issues arising from the misuse of images and other media that have been obtained without consent, or distributed without consent. The Victorian Law Reform Commission, New South Wales Law Reform Commission, and Australian Law Reform Commission have all proposed the introduction of a statutory cause of action for invasions of privacy. While a statutory cause of action for invasion of privacy would apply to a greater set of circumstances than only those surrounding sexting, the Committee recommends that proposals by the Victorian Law Reform Commission be supported. xxii
23 Table of Recommendations Recommendation 1: That the Victorian Government periodically commission research to examine qualitative and quantitative aspects of sexting practices by children and adults in Victoria Recommendation 2: That the Victorian Government, through the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, ensure all Victorian schools adopt holistic, integrated programs for internet and communications technologies awareness and safety into the school curriculum Recommendation 3: That the Victorian Government, through the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, continue to encourage current and pre-service teachers to take part in professional development programs focusing on cybersafety education Recommendation 4: That the Victorian Government ensure that educational and media campaigns directed toward sexting focus on the appropriateness of the behaviour of people who distribute intimate images or media without consent, rather than on the person who initially creates the intimate images or media Recommendation 5: That Victoria Police review its policies to ensure that opportunities are provided for adults charged with offences in relation to sexting-type behaviour, where there is no evidence of exploitative behaviour, to be offered diversion by Police prosecutors Recommendation 6: That the Victorian Government introduce legislation to amend each of the child pornography offences in the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic) and the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games) (Enforcement) Act 1995 (Vic) to provide defences to the effect of the following: It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against subsection (1) to prove that: (a) The film or photograph depicts only the accused person; or (b) That, at the time of making, taking or being given the film or photograph, the accused was not more than 2 years older than the minor was or appeared to be and (i) The film or photograph depicts the accused person engaged in lawful sexual activity; or (ii) The film or photograph depicts the accused person and another person or persons with whom the accused could engage in lawful sexual activity; or (iii) The film or photograph depicts a person with whom the accused could engage in lawful sexual activity, or more than one person, all of whom the accused could engage in lawful sexual activity with Recommendation 7: That at such time as the Victorian Parliament introduces legislation to give effect to Recommendation 6, the Victorian Government advocate to the Standing Council on Law and Justice that the Commonwealth, States and Territories amend their criminal legislation to provide defences to child pornography offences, consistent with the new Victorian defences xxiii
24 Inquiry into sexting Recommendation 8: That following the coming into operation of legislation from Recommendation 6, Victoria Police and the Victorian Office of Public Prosecutions adopt an express policy that they will not prosecute Commonwealth child pornography offences where an accused person would have a valid defence to child pornography charges under Victorian legislation Recommendation 9: That the Victorian Government introduce a specific offence for sexting to the Summary Offences Act 1966 (Vic) Recommendation 10: That, if Recommendation 6 and Recommendation 9 are not accepted in full, the Victorian Government introduce legislation to amend the Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004 (Vic) so that sentencing judges have discretion whether to order that an adult offender convicted of a sexting-related offence be listed on the Sex Offenders Register Recommendation 11: That, following the coming into operation of legislation from Recommendation 6, the Victorian Government establish a mechanism to review the registration of any person currently listed on the Sex Offenders Register, where that person would have had a defence under legislation introduced in accordance with Recommendation Recommendation 12: That the Victorian Government consider introducing legislation to create a statutory cause of action for invasion of privacy by the misuse of private information, following recommendations 23, 25, 27, and 29 to 33 of the Victorian Law Reform Commission s Surveillance in Public Places: Final Report 18 (2010) Recommendation 13: That the Victorian Government consider creating a Digital Communications Tribunal, either as a stand-alone body or as a list within the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal, to deal with complaints about harmful digital communications. Development of the Digital Communications Tribunal should be informed by the New Zealand Law Commission s proposal for a Communications Tribunal Recommendation 14: That the Victorian Government advocate that the Standing Council on Law and Justice consider issues surrounding the creation of a national Digital Communications Tribunal xxiv
25 Table of Findings Finding 1: The distribution of intimate images or media of a person without their consent has the potential to cause significant and ongoing harm to that person Finding 2: Current practices and trends in sexting by youth appear to reinforce gender stereotypes for young men and women, where young women are portrayed as promiscuous or in a derogatory manner when they participate in sexting, while young men do not suffer negative connotations to the same extent. The social repercussions of these stereotypes are potentially more deleterious for young women than for young men Finding 3: In the absence of an appropriate Victorian offence, the Commonwealth charge of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence is more appropriate than child pornography charges in cases of non-consensual sexting between people who could engage in lawful sexual activity, where the sexting is not exploitative Finding 4: The definition of child pornography in section 67A of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic), and section 57A of the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games)(Enforcement) Act 1995 (Vic), should continue to define a minor as a person under 18 years of age Finding 5: Defences for the offence of possession of child pornography, expressed in section 70(2)(d) and (e) of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic), are inadequate Finding 6: The absence of appropriate defences for the child pornography offences found in sections 68(1) and 69(1) of the Crimes Act 1958 (Vic), and in section 57A(1) of the Classification (Publications, Films and Computer Games)(Enforcement) Act 1995 (Vic), exposes young people who engage in non-exploitative sexting to being charged with child pornography offences Finding 7: Current Victorian law does not sufficiently accommodate the intent, magnitude, and range of harms committed through inappropriate sexting practices Finding 8: Current laws for breach of confidence, copyright, intentional infliction of harm, defamation and sexual harassment are unsuited to provide victims of non-consensual sexting with legal remedies against a person who has disseminated, or threatens to disseminate, an intimate image of them without consent xxv
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27 List of Abbreviations ACER ACL ACMA ALRC CASA CBA CECV Charter DEECD ECLC Gatehouse IIA JSC LIV LRCWA MRLSC NCYLC NSWLRC NZLC Oasis Hunter OCSC OPP OVPC RANZCP SAC SCLJ UNCROC VCAT VEOHRC VLA VLRC WHG WHW Australian Council of Educational Research Australian Christian Lobby Australian Communications and Media Authority Australian Law Reform Commission Centre Against Sexual Assault Criminal Bar Association Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic) Department of Education and Early Childhood Development Eastern Community Legal Centre Gatehouse Centre, Royal Children s Hospital Internet Industry Association Joint Select Committee on Cyber-Safety, Parliament of Australia Law Institute of Victoria Law Reform Commission of Western Australia Macedon Ranges Local Safety Committee National Children s and Youth Law Centre New South Wales Law Reform Commission New Zealand Law Commission Salvation Army Oasis Hunter Office of the Child Safety Commissioner Office of Public Prosecutions Office of the Victorian Privacy Commissioner Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists Sentencing Advisory Council Standing Council on Law and Justice (the successor body to the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General (SCAG)) United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission Victoria Legal Aid Victorian Law Reform Commission Women s Health Grampians Women s Health West xxvii
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29 Chapter 1 Chapter One: Introduction On 1 September 2011, the Legislative Assembly of the 57th Parliament passed a motion that the Law Reform Committee conduct an Inquiry into sexting defined for the purposes of the Inquiry as the creating, sharing, sending or posting of sexually explicit messages or images via the internet, mobile phones or other electronic devices by people, especially young people. In particular, the Committee was asked to consider and report on: 1) the incidence, prevalence and nature of sexting in Victoria; 2) the extent and effectiveness of existing awareness and education about the social and legal effect and ramifications of sexting; and 3) the appropriateness and adequacy of existing laws, especially criminal offences and the application of the sex offenders register, that may apply to the practice of sexting, particularly with regard to the creation, possession and transmission of sexually suggestive or explicit messages and images in circumstances where a person: a) creates, or consents to the creation of, the message or image for his or her own private use and/or the use of one or more other specific persons; or b) creates, or consents to the creation of, the message or image and without their knowledge and/or their consent the message or image is disseminated more broadly than the person intended. The Committee was asked to report by no later than 30 June By resolution of the Legislative Assembly on 28 March 2012, the reporting date was extended to 30 December The reporting date was further extended to 18 April 2013 by resolution of the Legislative Assembly on 12 December 2012, and to 30 May 2013 by resolution of the Legislative Assembly on 18 April Background The topic of sexting, particularly by young people, has become an issue of national, and international, interest and concern over the past few years. With the advent of smartphones and the increasing take-up of technology by teenagers and young people, the intersection between sex and 1
30 Inquiry into sexting technology has widened, with technology playing an increasing role in young people s exploration and expression of their sexuality The origins of sexting The phenomenon of sexting is relatively new. One of the earliest appearances of the term sexting was in July 2005, in an article in the Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph in reference to Australian cricketer Shane Warne sending explicitly-worded text messages to women. 1 While some mobile phones had camera capabilities at this time, the capturing and sending of photographs via mobile phone did not become commonplace until several years later. Virtually all mobile phones sold in Australia now can be used to access the internet, and have in-built high-resolution cameras. Apple, Samsung, HTC, Nokia and others have all released smartphones with video recording, messaging, and internet capabilities. In a matter of seconds, a person using a smartphone can record a photograph or a short film, upload the image to a social networking site, and tag a person in the image. The meaning of the term sexting has evolved concurrently with the evolution of mobile phones and their usage. While sexting referred to text-based messages with sexual content when it first came into usage, it is now commonly understood to refer to the sending of explicit images. Sexting appeared for the first time in the fifth edition of the Macquarie Dictionary, which was published in It is defined there as the receiving or sending of a sexually explicit photograph or video clip on a mobile phone. 2 The dictionary entry also notes that the term sexting is a blend of sex and texting Concerns leading to the Inquiry In July and August 2011, a number of feature articles on the topic of sexting appeared in The Age newspaper, drawing attention to the prevalence of sexting in high schools in Victoria, and noting the serious potential consequences both for the young persons photographed, and for those who receive or disseminate such photographs. Two articles were published on 10 July One recounted the story of a 13-year-old girl, Zoey, who sent a photograph of herself from the neck down to a boy a year older than her, who had been asking her by text message for an explicit photograph for several weeks. The article 1 2 Oliver James, 'He's clean bowled by a sick need for pleasure', Daily Telegraph, 2 July Part of the article reads: A telling aspect of his sexual farragoes is the use of his mobile for sexting (texting). Although kiss and sell newspaper accounts must always be treated with caution, there is a suspiciously similar theme to the sexts. Three women, from different continents, have accused him of harassing them with unwanted phone calls or sexts. Macquarie Dictionary Publishers Pty Ltd, Macquarie Concise Dictionary, 5th Edition, Macquarie Dictionary Publishers Pty Ltd, Sydney,
31 Chapter One: Introduction described what sexting was, and the possible consequences for those who engage in sexting: [Susan McLean, a cybersafety consultant] identifies a range of sexting scenarios. There are the cases like Zoey s where pressure is applied, and girls who send shots to their teenage boyfriends because I love him. Commonly, there is the party aftermath, the wash-up from a drunken night when girls either lose their inhibitions and pose for racy pictures or pass out and have no say in the pictures that are taken. Sometimes the pictures stay with the boy they were meant for, but often they go viral and are circulated around schools, sporting clubs and peer groups. While only a few teens send pictures of themselves, many others are bystanders who forward them on. They all know it s happening, even the ones who think it s disgusting know about it, McLean says. For the girls, the impact is often devastating. It s social suicide, says McLean. You cannot underestimate the social and emotional impact on a young person. The old double standards hold true, too. Girls caught up in sexting are labelled as sluts; boys are studs. But while the social consequences are different, the legal consequences are identical: sexting involving those under the age of 18 is a crime under child pornography laws. A girl who takes a naked picture of herself can be charged with manufacturing child pornography; if she sends it to someone she can be charged with transmission of child pornography; the recipient can be charged with possession of child pornography. 3 The other article from 10 July 2011 commented on the prevalence of sexting in Victorian schools, and suggested that responses to sexting incidents were varied: Police and schools are struggling to cope with a surge in teenage sexting, forcing senior police to commission guidelines on how to respond to new cases. Almost every Victorian secondary school has been faced with at least one incident involving graphic pictures of students being circulated on mobile phones or the internet, cyber safety experts and teachers have told The Sunday Age. Under Victorian child pornography laws, it is a crime for anyone to transmit or possess naked pictures of a person aged under 18. But recent incidents show that while police have the power to charge or caution those under 18 who transmit sexts of themselves or of their peers, they do not respond consistently. 3 Nicole Brady, 'Scourge of the school yard: how one rash moment can ruin a young life', Sunday Age, 10 July
32 Inquiry into sexting In one case, a boy and a girl, both 17, from the eastern suburbs made a sex tape and sent it to their friends. Both were charged under child pornography laws, and then given formal police cautions. In another case, police questioned a 16-year-old girl who sent naked pictures of herself to her 19-year-old boyfriend, but did not charge or caution them. Few cases have gone to the Children s Court, indicating schools and police are dealing with sexting themselves. But schools are struggling to cope with the rise in sexting and, with no guidelines, are dealing with it on an ad hoc basis. Teachers from a range of Melbourne government and private secondary schools have told The Sunday Age they know of cases in which naked or topless photographs of students have been shared throughout a year level or the entire school. 4 A series of articles appeared in newspapers over several months. One noted that some Victorian teenagers who have engaged in sexting have been listed on the Sex Offenders Register as a result. 5 An editorial also appeared in the 24 July 2011 edition of The Sunday Age, suggesting that educators and the law were struggling to keep up with the phenomenon of sexting. Finally, on 15 August 2011, The Sunday Age reported the comments of a senior Victorian magistrate, who had presided over one of the cases reported by The Sunday Age in which a young man received sexting messages from a friend, and was listed on the Sex Offenders Register as a consequence: A senior Victorian magistrate who presided over a case in which a youth pleaded guilty to teenage sexting offences has condemned as so unjust the mandatory laws that meant the young man was registered as a sex offender. The magistrate, who works in country Victoria, said the lack of judicial discretion in such cases meant severe consequences for young people who posed no threat to society and were often guilty of little more than naivety. These people shouldn t be regarded as sex offenders. It s going beyond the pale in relation to the imposition of long-term penalties which are not judicial penalties, they re not fines or community-based orders or even sex offender treatment programs. This is a limitation on what a person can and can t do for the next eight years of their life, for God s sake, the magistrate said. The magistrate said that in the sexting cases coming before him in court the offenders have a minimal amount of culpability attached to them and a minimal amount of danger to any other person in the community. That s when it becomes so unjust. 4 5 Nicole Brady, 'Teen sexting: it's illegal, but it's in every high school', Sunday Age, 10 July Nicole Brady, ''Sexting' youths placed on sex offenders register', Sunday Age, 24 July
33 Chapter One: Introduction He called for magistrates and judges to be given discretion over who ought to be listed as a sex offender. We re the ones that see the material, we hear the pleas from the legal practitioners, we get to hear the prior convictions if there are any, we get to see the actual participants the people who have been involved in this sort of activity, he said. 6 Following the Sunday Age s series of reports on sexting, the state Attorney-General, Hon. Robert Clark MP, announced in August 2011 that the state government would launch an inquiry into sexting, to investigate whether the law required amending to respond more appropriately to the phenomenon of teen sexting. According to the Sunday Age, the Attorney-General said that sexting raised serious issues for victims and offenders, and the law needed to catch up with changes in behaviour and technology. 7 The Attorney-General indicated that the proposed inquiry should examine all aspects of the phenomenon of sexting: its prevalence, its nature, its implications and its consequences. 8 The Attorney-General also indicated that whether or not sanctions should apply to conduct involving sexting was an open question, and that the inquiry would consider the issue of sex offender registration: In the cases of youths who were registered as sex offenders after sexting offences, Mr Clark said: The implications of the sex offender register are a key part of what we would expect the inquiry to look at. This seems to be an example of where the law can apply in a context which was not in mind at the time the law was enacted and which may well be having consequences that the community would not think were appropriate or intended. 9 On 1 September 2011, the inquiry was referred to the Law Reform Committee. 1.2 Context of the Inquiry Major concerns for the Inquiry As raised in the newspaper articles discussed above, a major concern with regard to young people engaging in sexting is the possibility that child pornography offences can apply to young people who create, send, receive or possess sexting messages. A person who is convicted of a child pornography offence faces mandatory registration on the Sex Offenders Register if they were over the age of 18 at the time they committed the offence Nicole Brady, 'Sexting punishment unjust: magistrate', Sunday Age, 14 August Nicole Brady, 'Inquiry ordered as law lags behind teen sexting', Sunday Age, 21 August ibid. ibid. If a person was younger than 18 at the time they committed the offence, the court has the discretion to include that person on the sex offenders register: see Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004 (Vic), sections 11(2),11(2A). 5
34 Inquiry into sexting Inclusion on the Sex Offenders Register has serious consequences. A person who is listed on the register must provide detailed personal information to Victoria Police when they are initially registered 11 and on an annual basis thereafter. 12 A person who is a registered sex offender is also prohibited from working in any child-related employment, 13 which includes a broad range of occupations and volunteer undertakings such as working in schools, paediatric wards of hospitals, and clubs and associations that involve children. 14 A registered sex offender must also report to the police any changes in their personal details, including any regular, unsupervised contact that they have with children. 15 Another major area of concern is the devastating consequences that can result from an intimate image going viral and spreading throughout a community, whether or not the image relates to children. There have been several high-profile incidents of sexting messages being widely disseminated in Victoria, and there is concern about the impact these incidents can have on the victims, who are generally young women. The Committee examines the nature of sexting in Chapter Two, and considers in Chapter Six whether there should be specific criminal consequences for those who intentionally disseminate an intimate image of someone else Other relevant Inquiries A number of state and federal inquiries have been undertaken recently on matters that are relevant to this Inquiry. The Victorian Law Reform Commission (VLRC) completed a review of Victoria s sex offenders registration scheme in 2011, and made several recommendations relating to which offenders should be listed on the register. The VLRC also released a report on surveillance in public places, which discusses, among other things, the possibility of a statutory cause of action for a breach of privacy. The New South Wales Law Reform Commission (NSWLRC) and the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) have also released reports recommending that a statutory cause of action should be created for breaches of privacy. There have also been two relevant federal Parliamentary inquiries, with a Joint Select Committee undertaking an inquiry into cybersafety, and a Senate Committee reviewing a bill that proposed to amend Commonwealth criminal legislation relating to sexual offences against children. In addition, the New Zealand Law Commission (NZLC) recently released a Ministerial Briefing Paper regarding harmful digital communications, which touches on several issues relating to sexting ibid., 12(1), 14(1). ibid., 16. ibid., 68(1). ibid., 67(1). ibid., 17. 6
35 Chapter One: Introduction Each of these inquiries is briefly described below VLRC report: Sex offenders registration In February 2011, a report from the Victorian Ombudsman raised concerns about the effectiveness of Victoria s sex offenders registration scheme. 16 As a consequence, the Attorney-General requested that the VLRC review and report on the registration of sex offenders under the Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004 (Vic). 17 The purpose of the review was to ensure that the legislative arrangements for the collection and use of information about registered sex offenders enable law enforcement and child protection agencies to assess the risk of re-offending, prevent further offences, and protect children from harm. 18 The VLRC delivered its final report on Victoria s sex offenders registration scheme in December The report focused on how to strengthen Victoria s sex offenders registration scheme to play a more effective role in protecting children from sexual abuse. 20 The VLRC found that because the current registration scheme does not discriminate between dangerous offenders and those who pose no risk of further harm, the value of the information on the register is likely to decline as the number of registrations continues to increase. 21 The VLRC observed that the current registration scheme involving automatic registration for adult sex offenders is unsustainable, and recommended against mandatory registration for adults who are convicted of sex offences. 22 The VLRC also recommended against the registration of minors in all but exceptional circumstances. 23 The VLRC recommended establishing a panel of experts to review the circumstances of each person currently listed on the sex offender register, to determine how they should be dealt with under the new scheme proposed by the VLRC. 24 The Law Reform Commission of Western Australia (LRCWA) also recently undertook a review of its sex offender registration legislation, releasing a report in January 2012, 25 and made recommendations similar to those made by the VLRC. The LRCWA and the VLRC reports are discussed in more detail in Chapter Six Ombudsman Victoria, Whistleblowers Protection Act 2001: Investigation into the failure of agencies to manage registered sex offenders, Ombudsman Victoria, Melbourne, Session , Parliamentary Paper No. 9, Victorian Law Reform Commission, Sex offenders registration: Final report, Melbourne, 2011, p. vi. ibid. ibid. ibid., x. ibid., xii. ibid., ibid., ibid., Law Reform Commission of Western Australia, Community Protection (Offender Reporting) Act 2004, Perth, Final Report, Project No. 101,
36 Inquiry into sexting VLRC report: Surveillance in public places One form of sexting that the Committee considered during this Inquiry is the use of technology to record another person in a sexual context without their knowledge, or without their consent for example, using a hidden camera to record a person engaging in sexual activity, or engaging in up-skirting conduct. Relevant to this aspect of the Inquiry, in May 2010 the VLRC released a report on surveillance in public places. 26 In this report, the VLRC noted that surveillance devices have become increasingly affordable, sophisticated, and easily available. The VLRC considered a range of matters surrounding the use of surveillance devices, and how to ensure that the use of surveillance devices does not infringe on the rights of the Victorian public. 27 The report s recommendations included: clarifying, modernising and strengthening the Surveillance Devices Act 1999 (Vic), including a new offence dealing with improper use of a surveillance device, such as happy slapping ; 28 prohibiting surveillance in public toilets and change rooms; prohibiting a person recording an activity or conversation which they are part of without the consent of the other parties; broadening the role of the Victorian Privacy Commissioner to include regulation of public place surveillance; and creating two new causes of action (the right to sue) dealing with serious invasions of privacy. 29 While the VLRC s report focused on surveillance in public places, its recommendations regarding causes of action for serious invasions of privacy are not necessarily limited to conduct occurring in a public place, or involving the use of a surveillance device. 30 To the Committee s knowledge, there has not as yet been any progress towards implementing any of the VLRC s recommendations. The Committee considers the VLRC s report and recommendations, as well as the NSWLRC and ALRC reports on privacy, further in Chapter Seven of this report Victorian Law Reform Commission, Surveillance in public places, Melbourne, Final Report 18, ibid., 11. Happy slapping refers to the practice of making audio and/or video recordings of assaults in public places. Victorian Law Reform Commission, 'Commission recommends modernising surveillance laws', viewed 10 January 2013, < Victorian Law Reform Commission, Surveillance in public places, Melbourne, Final Report 18, 2010, p
37 Chapter One: Introduction Joint Select Committee report: Cybersafety In March 2010, the Australian Parliament established a Joint Select Committee on Cyber-Safety, as a response to community concerns about the impact of threats to young people arising from the online environment. 31 The terms of reference required the Joint Select Committee to undertake a broad inquiry into the online environment in which young Australians engage, and to consider cybersafety and cyberbullying issues affecting young people. 32 The Joint Select Committee tabled its inquiry report High-Wire Act: Cyber-Safety and the Young in June Sexting was one of the many matters considered and reported on by the Joint Select Committee. The report briefly noted some statistics about the prevalence of sexting, and commented on some of the potential consequences (including long-term consequences) for those who engage in sexting. 34 The report did not make any recommendations specifically relating to sexting. 35 However, several of the recommendations are relevant to cybersafety more broadly, particularly cybersafety education. The Federal Government provided its response to the report in December As far as the Committee is aware, none of the Joint Select Committee s recommendations have yet been implemented. Many of the report s recommendations were accepted by the Government in principle, pending the outcomes of a Cyber White Paper process. The Government had announced in early June that it would develop a Cyber White Paper, examining the full spectrum of cyber issues such as better coordination of awareness raising activities, development of skills, more centralised reporting of cyber incidents and a more coherent approach to cyber education. 38 The Cyber White Paper was to provide a long-term strategy for Australia s engagement in cyberspace [to] ensure we can take full advantage of the opportunities that are available, while at the same time ensuring the risks can be managed. 39 The Cyber White Paper was intended to be released in the first half of 2012, 40 but has not yet been completed. In October 2012, it was reported that the scope of the paper Joint Select Committee on Cyber-Safety, High-wire act: cyber-safety and the young, Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, Interim report, 2011, pp. 6, para ibid., xxii-xxiii. ibid. ibid., ibid., xxvi-xxxii. Australian Government, Government statement of response: Joint Select Committee on Cyber-Safety Interim report - High-wire act: cyber-safety and the young, Commonwealth of Australia, Australian Government Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, 'Statement by the Secretary - 3 June 2011: Announcement of the Cyber White Paper', viewed 15 November 2012, < Australian Government, Government statement of response: Joint Select Committee on Cyber-Safety Interim report - High-wire act: cyber-safety and the young, Commonwealth of Australia, 2011, p. 4. Australian Policy Online, 'Cyber White Paper: Inquiry on now, paper due mid-2012', viewed 12 April 2013, < ibid. 9
38 Inquiry into sexting had been significantly broadened the paper has been renamed the Digital White Paper, and rather than being restricted to its original cyber-security agenda, the paper will now also encompass a high-level cloud computing strategy for both business and government. 41 No release date for the Digital White Paper has yet been indicated. 42 In making its findings and recommendations regarding education around sexting, discussed in Chapter Three, the Committee considers and refers to the Joint Select Committee s recommendations on cybersafety education Senate Committee report: Crimes Legislation Amendment (Sexual Offences Against Children) Bill 2010 On 4 February 2010, the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Sexual Offences Against Children) Bill 2010 (Cth) was referred to the Senate s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee for inquiry and report. 43 The Bill proposed to amend several pieces of Commonwealth legislation, with the aim of ensuring a comprehensive regime of sexual offences against children, where those offences occur across or outside Australian jurisdictions (such as over the Internet or overseas). 44 Among other things, the Bill proposed to consolidate the existing Commonwealth child sex offences relating to child sexual abuse and child pornography and child abuse material and to create some new child sex offences. 45 During its inquiry into the Bill, the Senate Committee heard some concerns about the possible impacts of the child sexual offences regime in relation to sexting. 46 In its report, the Senate Committee recognised the potential for existing and proposed child sex offences to apply to young people who engage in sexting, and expressed concern in this regard: the committee notes that police and prosecutorial discretion is an important element of ensuring that the new and existing child sex offences will not operate to unduly capture young people who may be involved or participate in the practice of sexting. While the committee acknowledges that the practice may be undesirable, it agrees with arguments that young people engaged in such behaviour should not be exposed to the grave consequences and stigma that attach to allegations of, and convictions for, child sexual offences Julian Bajkowski, 'Conroy seizes Cyber whitepaper', 29 October 2012, viewed 15 November 2012, < As of May 2013, the Digital White Paper had a presence on twitter ( but the link to the relevant website from the twitter account was broken ( Legal and Constitutional Affairs Legislation Committee, Crimes Legislation Amendment (Sexual Offences Against Children) Bill 2010 [Provisions], Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, 2010, p. 1. ibid. ibid., 5. ibid., ibid., 34, para
39 Chapter One: Introduction To reduce the risk of young people facing child sex offence charges for engaging in sexting, the Senate Committee recommended that the consent of the Attorney-General be required before proceedings could be commenced against a person under the age of 18 for a child sex offence under the Commonwealth legislation. This safeguard was already proposed in the Bill in relation to Division 272 (child sex offences outside Australia i.e. child sex tourism), but not in relation to Division 273, which related to offences involving pornography material or child abuse material. The Senate Committee explained: In light of the evidence provided in relation to sexting, the committee is inclined to favour calls for the discretion of the Attorney-General to be extended in relation to prosecutions of people under 18 years of age for child sex offences. This would mean that a young person could not be prosecuted for an offence under Division 272 (as already proposed) or Division 273, without the consent of the Attorney-General. The committee is of the view that the extension of this safeguard may ensure that behaviour which is not exploitative of, or harmful to, children is not captured by the child sex offence regime (particularly where that behaviour involves children themselves). 48 This recommendation was incorporated into the bill that was passed by the Commonwealth Parliament to become the Crimes Legislation Amendment (Sexual Offences Against Children) Act 2010 (Cth) in March NZLC report: Harmful digital communications In August 2012, the NZLC released a Ministerial Briefing Paper, Harmful Digital Communications: the adequacy of the current sanctions and remedies. 50 The report was fast-tracked at the request of the responsible New Zealand Minister, as a consequence of rising concerns about cyberbullying and the ways in which abuses of technologies are contributing to serious issues for adolescents. 51 This report addressed three questions: a) how to adapt [the] laws to ensure they are fit for purpose in the digital era; b) how to ensure these laws can be understood and accessed by ordinary citizens; and, critically c) how citizens can access meaningful remedies when they have experienced significant harm as a result of digital communication. 52 The NZLC s report dealt with cyberbullying broadly, considering all types of harmful digital communications. This included harmful sexting. Two of the NZLC s key recommendations were that: ibid., 35, para See Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth), section C. New Zealand Law Commission, Harmful digital communications: the adequacy of the current sanctions and remedies, Wellington, Ministerial briefing paper, ibid., 5. ibid., 6. 11
40 Inquiry into sexting a new criminal offence tailored to digital communications should be created; and a new Communications Tribunal should be established to provide citizens with a speedy, efficient and cheap means to access remedies such as takedown orders and cease and desist notices. 53 The Committee reviews the NZLC s report further in the context of considering whether a specific criminal offence should be created for non-consensual sexting (Chapter Six), and in considering administrative mechanisms to allow sexted images to be removed from the internet (Chapter Seven). 1.3 Inquiry process Submissions and public hearings In May 2012, the Committee advertised the Inquiry s Terms of Reference in Victorian and national newspapers and called for written submissions. The Committee received a total of 60 submissions (see Appendix One), from a range of individuals and organisations. Figure 1 provides a breakdown of the submissions received in terms of the main professional focus of the organisations and persons making the submissions. Figure 1: Submissions to the Inquiry by type of organisation Academic/research Centres against sexual assault Education and parents groups Human rights Legal Privacy Civil liberties Religious Police, crime prevention and safety Health Youth welfare Individuals The Committee convened six public hearings between September and December Details of the hearings are set out in Appendix Two. The 53 ibid., 7. 12
41 Chapter One: Introduction Committee heard evidence from a total of 45 witnesses, including 1 individual, and 44 witnesses representing 19 organisations. Witnesses included academics who have undertaken research into sexting and cyberbullying; representatives of organisations that provide legal advice or health services; and representatives of non-profit organisations, government departments and agencies, including representatives from Victoria Police and the Victorian Children s Court. The Committee considered evidence presented in camera as part of its Inquiry deliberations. The Committee is grateful to the many individuals and organisations who contributed to this Inquiry by making written submissions and participating in the public hearings Study tour of Canada and the USA From late October to early November 2012, the Committee undertook a study tour of parts of Canada and the United States of America. In Canada the Committee visited Toronto and Ottawa, and in the USA the Committee travelled to New York, Washington DC and Los Angeles. During its investigations, the Committee consulted with a range of key stakeholders in academia, the public sector, law enforcement, and legal sectors. In total, the delegation met with 64 people representing 31 organisations while overseas. A summary of the organisations and individuals with whom the Committee met is provided at Appendix Three. 13
42 Inquiry into sexting 14
43 Chapter 2 Chapter Two: Sexting: nature, incidence and prevalence In many respects, sexting is an evolving term that encompasses a wide range of practices, motivations and behaviours: Sexting episodes are very diverse and complex and cannot be categorized or generalized very easily. In some cases a youth takes pictures and sends them to an adult in what is an exploitative sexual relationship. In other cases, the taking and sending appears to be a feature of a developmentally appropriate adolescent romantic relationship. In still others, it may be hard to determine whether youth who exchange images are agreed about to what use the images may be put. 54 In this Chapter, the Committee discusses some characteristics of sexting, with a focus on peer-to-peer sexting by young people. The Committee examines the frequency of peer-to-peer sexting, explores motivations for sexting, and considers harms that can arise from sexting. The need for Australian research into sexting is also discussed. 2.1 The rise of connected technologies and social media The emergence of sexting is associated with increased availability of diverse communication technologies, including mobile devices and social media and networking sites. 55 These media allow images and videos to be shared instantaneously, easily, and with many other people, each of whom can in turn share that material with others. While many benefits arise from increased access to mobile and internet technologies, these technologies also have characteristics that can exacerbate the harms resulting from an intimate or sexual picture being taken and passed on to someone else. These include that: images can be sent anonymously via MMS (with the caller ID blocked) or (from a fake account), and can be posted online anonymously, or using a pseudonym. The New Zealand Law Commission suggests that: The ability to send anonymous texts and comment anonymously may have a disinhibiting effect on the communicator, disconnecting them Janis Wolak and David Finkelhor, Sexting: a typology, Crimes Against Children Research Centre, University of New Hampshire, Durham, 2011, p. 9. quoted by Amy Shields Dobson, Mary Lou Rasmussen and Danielle Tyson, Submission no. 34, 15 June 2012, p. 5. Victoria Legal Aid, Submission no. 58, 17 July 2012, p
44 Inquiry into sexting from their victim and the consequences of their actions; while from the victim s perspective, the anonymity of the abuser can exacerbate the victim s sense of powerlessness. 56 the ease and speed with which images can be created and shared creates the risk that images will go viral, with the potential for a large number of a person s peers and others to view the image. An image can easily spread rapidly through an entire school community, or multiple school communities. once digital information is created and shared, it is very difficult to retrieve or destroy. Images can survive on the internet for a long time after they are posted, and can resurface and cause further trauma to the person depicted. It can also be distressing for a person to not know how widely an image has spread, who has viewed it, and who may have downloaded or saved it. 57 These aspects of technology contribute to the dramatic, harmful and long-lasting consequences that can potentially result from sexting conduct Smartphone and social media use Internet and social networking Use of the internet and through it, social networking, is becoming increasingly ubiquitous among all age groups, and particularly among younger people. Children and young people regularly use the internet at school and at home. As children grow older, familiarity with and use of the internet and social networking websites tends to increase younger children s exposure to the internet and social networking is typically through game-related websites, whereas from high school age children tend to become regular and proficient users of social networking services. 58 In , 79 per cent of Australian households had access to the internet at home (up from 64% in ). 59 More households with children under 15 had access to the internet (93%) compared with other households (74%). 60 People aged 18 to 24 years were most likely to have accessed the internet in the past year, with 96 per cent accessing the internet in Social networking websites allow users to share personal and other information, develop relationships, and stay in contact with family and New Zealand Law Commission, Harmful digital communications: the adequacy of the current sanctions and remedies, Wellington, Ministerial briefing paper, 2012, p. 38. ibid. Australian Communications and Media Authority, Click and connect: young Australians' use of online social media - 01: Qualitative research report, Commonwealth of Australia, 2009, p. 5. Australian Bureau of Statistics, Household use of information technology, Australia, , Commonwealth of Australia, ibid. ibid. 16
45 Chapter Two: Sexting: nature, incidence and prevalence friends. Social networking sites are characterised by free access, lack of geographical restrictions, and access from any internet-enabled device. 62 Popular social networking sites include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Tumblr, YouTube and Pinterest. Use of social networking sites in Australia is widespread, particularly by young people aged 12 to 17 years (90% compared to 51% aged 8 to 11 years). By age 16 to 17 years, 97 per cent of young Australians use at least one social networking service Mobile phones, smartphones, and mobile internet access Australia has one of the highest rates of mobile digital technology ownership and access, with the second highest smartphone usage by population density in the world (behind only Singapore). 64 In , the total number of mobile phone services in Australia reached 30.2 million approximately four mobile phone services to every three people. 65 People aged between 18 and 24 years have the highest level of mobile phone use, with 99 per cent using a mobile phone, and 74 per cent using a smartphone. 66 During the six months to May 2012, 51 per cent of Australian adults accessed the internet via their mobile phone handset. 67 Mobile phone and internet use by 14- to 17-year-olds is significant, and is likely to increase as these youths enter adulthood. In , 43 per cent of youths in this age group had a smartphone, 83 per cent had use of a mobile phone, and 38 per cent accessed the internet through their mobile phone. 68 Over coming decades, it is likely that only very young people will have low rates of access to mobile phone, smartphone, and mobile internet technologies Examples of recent sexting incidents A number of accounts of sexting incidents have been reported by Australian media over the last few years. Several sexting incidents involving young people have occurred in Victoria, including in Victorian schools, attracting significant media attention. In October 2012 the Herald Sun reported on a sexting scandal affecting a number of Melbourne schools: More than 100 students from some of Melbourne s most prestigious schools have been caught up in a sexting scandal involving a 13-year-old girl Australian Communications and Media Authority, Communications report , Commonwealth of Australia, 2011, p Australian Communications and Media Authority, Click and connect: young Australians' use of online social media - 01: Qualitative research report, Commonwealth of Australia, 2009, p. 8. Susan McLean, Submission no. 12, 13 June 2012, p. 2; The Alannah and Madeline Foundation, Submission no. 42, 18 June 2012, p. 5. Australian Communications and Media Authority, Communications report , Commonwealth of Australia, Melbourne, 2012, p. 14. ibid., 34. ibid. ibid. 17
46 Inquiry into sexting Police and school authorities were alerted after the sexually explicit video of the girl went viral after she sent it to a male friend from another college. Sources say teenage boys from at least seven elite schools have shared the video, as teachers and welfare staff battle to contain its spread. 69 Another case of a sext gone viral at a Geelong school was reported in December 2012: Students from an elite Geelong private school have become embroiled in a sexting scandal after an explicit image of a year 8 girl was spread among her classmates via text message. The Geelong College contacted police around two months ago when staff at the $20,000 per year school learned that the image had gone viral within a group of year-old boys. 70 Social networking sites have also been used by teens to post and share intimate photographs. In late 2011, there were reports of a sneaky hat craze, where teenagers would take photographs of themselves naked but for a strategically placed hat, and would post the photos to a Facebook page, or another webpage created for the purpose: A new Facebook craze where teenagers take near-naked photos of themselves has cyber-safety experts horrified. The Sneaky Hat trend has been branded a ''paedophile's paradise'' and involves mostly young people posing in nothing but a hat covering their genitals. Countless Facebook pages and other sites, open for anyone to see, have sprung up showing male and female teens in provocative poses after reportedly originating at a Queensland highschool. The craze has spawned spin-offs such as girls and boys-only sites, and location-specific groups such as Sneaky Hat Brisbane'. 71 These cases represent some of the activities and events that young people may become entangled with, or participate in, through connected technologies. What is not clear, however, is whether these particular cases represent the common experience of youth in regard to social media, or are extreme or unusual events Evonne Barry and Amelia Harris, 'Sexting scandal: Elite private school kids in video wildfire', Herald Sun, 20 October Courtney Crane, ''Sexting' rocks school: Students counselled, explicit images on phones erased', Geelong News, 5 December Angus Thompson, 'Teenagers pose near-naked in Sneaky Hat trend on Facebook', Herald Sun, 23 November 2011, viewed 6 February 2013, < 18
47 Chapter Two: Sexting: nature, incidence and prevalence 2.2 Sexting as a practice What is sexting? The Inquiry s Terms of Reference define sexting as: the creating, sharing, sending or posting of sexually explicit messages or images via the internet, mobile phones or other electronic devices by people, especially young people This broad definition encompasses a wide range of behaviours, and the use of a range of media. It may include behaviours as diverse as: a 15-year-old girl taking a topless photograph of herself and sending it via mobile phone to her 16-year-old boyfriend; the boyfriend showing the photograph to his friends on the screen of his mobile phone; romantic partners engaging in a webchat where they flash one another; a person posting a sexually explicit image on someone else s Facebook page; a person recording a sexual assault using their mobile phone camera; a person installing a hidden camera in a swimming pool changing room to record people getting changed; and a person sending an 11-year-old child explicitly-worded text messages as part of grooming the child. Clearly, as the examples above illustrate, the term sexting may encompass a wide range of behaviours, some of which may cause little or no harm to the people involved, and some of which can cause significant harm to participants. In approaching this Inquiry, the Committee considered issues surrounding all types of sexting. However, the Committee s main focus is on issues surrounding peer-to-peer sexting by young people, and non-consensual sexting by young people and adults. This includes consensual sexting, where intimate photographs or videos are willingly created and shared and do not go beyond the person or persons with whom they were intended to be shared, and non-consensual sexting, where an image is distributed to a person or persons whom the person depicted in the image did not intend to see it. The Committee also focuses mainly on sexting involving images. While sexting can include text-only communication, in most cases the potential for greatest harm is likely to arise from the transmission of images. In the context of sexting, images of minors will likely be considered child pornography under current Victorian law, and people who create, send or receive such images, including minors, commit child pornography offences. 19
48 Inquiry into sexting Consequently, sexting involving images is more likely to have deleterious legal consequences for young people than sexting involving text-only communication. For the purposes of this Inquiry, young people is a general term that includes minors under the age of 18, and also young adults. While the term sexting is commonly used by the media and others, and is used throughout this report, the Committee heard that this term is not used or necessarily recognised by young people themselves. 72 This may need to be taken into account when conducting research on, or introducing education about, sexting to young people. However, while sexting is not necessarily a term widely used by young people, the Committee heard that young people are readily able to identify the types of activities encompassed by this term when it is explained to them. The Committee believes that, rather than causing a disconnect with young people, increased use of the term sexting by educators, law enforcement, and government will likely inform young people about formal views on this group of practices, regardless of the terms or phrases used by young people to describe those practices themselves Young people and peer-to-peer sexting As noted above, the main focus of this Inquiry is on young people engaging in peer-to-peer sexting that is, young people sending sexually explicit or suggestive images to other young people of a similar age. This may include a situation where a young person creates and sends a self-portrait to another young person consensually, as well as situations where a young person distributes an image of another young person without their consent. For the purpose of the following discussion, peer-to-peer sexting does not include sexting where one or more of the participants attempts to use sexting to sexually exploit another person or persons Forms of sexting Given the diverse and growing range of devices and technologies through which images, text, and sound can be communicated, it is impractical to list the technical means through which sexting can occur. Essentially, sexting may comprise any text, audio or visual media, or a combination of these such as through online video, for example. BoysTown, the organisation that operates the national children s advice service Kids Helpline, told the Committee that the sexting reported to its counsellors included the transmission of still images, online video streaming and, less commonly, the transmission of sexually suggestive John Dalgleish, Manager, Strategy and Research, BoysTown, Transcript of evidence, Melbourne, 18 September 2012, p. 4; Belinda Lo, Principal Lawyer, Eastern Community Legal Centre, Transcript of evidence, Melbourne, 18 September 2012, p. 35; Shelley Walker, Submission no. 55, 6 July 2012, p. 3. Although note that it is possible that a young person or young people could engage in sexting that is sexually exploitative of a peer. 20
49 Chapter Two: Sexting: nature, incidence and prevalence text-only messages. 74 As well as direct transmission of video between people, online video streaming may occur through websites that connect users with one another randomly. As noted in the Committee s Terms of Reference, sexting is not restricted to immediate or direct electronic communication of sexually explicit materials with others. Sexting can also include sexually explicit images of young people posted on social networking sites or public web pages. 75 Ms Shelley Walker, who recently completed research on sexting by young people, told the Committee that rather than being sent an explicit image via or messaging, many young people come across sexting materials when their peers show them those materials on their hand-held devices. 76 In some cases, therefore, sharing of sexting materials may be through interpersonal contact, rather than electronic distribution. The majority of sexting involves sexually explicit images of girls rather than boys. Most images are sent to boys, and most images are produced by the person they portray (that is, they are self-portraits). While boys may also produce images of themselves (usually involving their penises), this occurs far less frequently than images produced by girls of themselves The stages of peer-to-peer sexting Through the Inquiry, the Committee heard that while the range of circumstances in which sexting occurred was diverse, most cases of sexting by young people involved a typical set of circumstances. Mr Bill Byrd, Safe Schools Administrator for the Toronto District School Board, told the Committee that sexting typically occurs when small groups of same-sex (usually upper-middle class) younger children meet. Often sexting occurs when that group of children get bored, and one of the children introduces something different (often alcohol or marijuana) to the group, and an additional motivator is introduced for example, a boy may send a text to them (or vice versa) asking them to show us something. While children are often coerced into sexting, at the time it simply looks like fun to them. Mr Byrd told the Committee that often the exhibitionist of the group, or the most reclusive person, is co-opted into sexting and invariably once they have done it they immediately recognise that they have made a mistake. 78 In its submission to the Inquiry, the National Children s and Youth Law Centre (NCYLC) outlined what it considered to be the four stages of peer-to-peer sexting, and the harms potentially associated with each stage, together with examples of real-life scenarios that young people have sought advice on through Lawmail or Kids Helpline: BoysTown, Submission no. 9, 12 June 2012, p. 9. Shelley Walker, Submission no. 55, 6 July 2012, pp ibid. ibid., 3. Bill Byrd, Safe Schools Administrator, Toronto District School Board, Meeting, Toronto, Canada, 30 October
50 Inquiry into sexting Figure 2: Stages of peer-to-peer sexting 79 Stage 1. Requesting an image Potential negative social consequences Depending on the nature and the source of the request, the recipient of the request may feel upset by it. He or she may also feel pressured to comply with the request. Amy (13 y/o) reported that her friend was being pressured by her 15 year old boyfriend to take a picture of her breasts and send it to him. While Amy was sure her friend wouldn t do this, she expressed concern that this boy might hurt her friend if she didn t as he had been hurtful in the past.(kids Helpline) 2. Creating an image If the image is a self-portrait, its creator may be acting in response to peer pressure. If the image is captured by someone else, there are additional concerns, including a possible lack of understanding or consent by the subject. Sarah (16 y/o) recently had sex with Nathan (19 y/o), who filmed it on his mobile phone. Sarah didn t want to be filmed, but Nathan insisted that nobody else would see it. Sarah contacted [NCYLC] to get some information about the laws that might apply. (Lawmail) Lila (17 y/o) wrote to [NCYLC] to ask for some advice about a problem that her friend, Jennifer (17 y/o), was having with her ex-boyfriend, Stephen (19 y/o). While Jennifer and Stephen were dating, Stephen took naked photos of Jennifer. Some of these photos were taken without Jennifer s consent. Lila wanted to know what laws applied and if there was anything she and Jennifer could do to make Stephen delete the photos. (Lawmail) 3. Sharing an image with an intended recipient (consensually) Again, peer pressure is the primary concern. The subject of the image may also feel obliged to refrain from doing anything that could upset the recipient, for fear that the recipient might share the image with others. This may give the recipient a means of control over the subject. Sam (19 y/o) contacted [NCYLC] to get some information for his friend, Bethany (age unknown). Bethany had texted nude photos of herself to her ex-boyfriend, John. After they broke up, Bethany became worried that John would send these photos to other people. Sam was wondering what the law says about this and what Bethany can do to prevent John from releasing the photos. (Lawmail) Gemma (13 y/o) recently sent some boys from school naked photos of herself. She contacted [NCYLC] for advice about how she can make the boys delete the photos. (Lawmail) 4. Sharing an image with others (non-consensually) At this stage, harm is more probable and substantial. The subject of the image is likely to feel betrayed, humiliated, angry and upset. If the photo is shared widely, the subject is likely to feel a sense of helplessness and loss of control. The subject is also likely to worry about long-lasting damage to his or her reputation and even job prospects. If the image is passed around among the subject s peers, he or she may also experience bullying and harassment. Joshua (age unknown) recently filmed himself masturbating on a webcam and sent the video to someone else. The recipient posted the video to YouTube. Joshua contacted [NCYLC] to get information about whether his actions were illegal, and whether he could be charged or end up with a criminal record if someone reported the video to the police. (Lawmail) Angela (17 y/o) sent Michael (17 y/o) a photo of herself posing in her underwear. Michael then logged into Angela s account without her permission and, purporting to be Angela, sent the photos to some of her friends. Michael contacted [NCYLC] to ask if he had committed a crime. (Lawmail) The NCYLC noted that the possible harms associated with each stage of sexting are potentialities only, suggesting that in many cases involving just 79 National Children's and Youth Law Centre, Submission no. 36, 15 June 2012, p. 3; Kelly Tallon, Ahram Choi, Matthew Keeley, Julianne Elliott and Debra Maher, New Voices/New Laws: School-age young people in New South Wales speak out about the criminal laws that apply to their online behaviour, National Children's and Youth Law Centre and Legal Aid New South Wales, 2012, pp
51 Chapter Two: Sexting: nature, incidence and prevalence the first three stages, the victim will not see or experience any harm. 80 As the NCYLC noted, the examples provided for each stage of sexting are cases in which young people have contacted Kids Helpline or the NCYLC seeking advice and so necessarily reflect situations where harm has been experienced. 81 Young people who are not experiencing any harm or concerns arising from sexting activities are unlikely to seek advice from Kids Helpline or Lawmail about sexting Non-consensual sexting Of the four stages of peer-to-peer sexting, the potential for greatest harm occurs when sexting is non-consensual. Non-consensual sharing of an image may occur when a person passes on an image to a third party without the agreement of other people portrayed in that image, and when any other people distribute that image without consent. The reasons people share images without consent are diverse. In some cases, the person sending on the image may give little thought to the possible repercussions of that action he or she may simply see it as a bit of a joke, and fail to consider the effect on the person depicted in the image. In other cases, a person may act maliciously by distributing an image. Non-consensual sexting often occurs during the breakdown of relationships, when a person seeks to humiliate an ex-partner by distributing an embarrassing image. For example, the Committee received a submission from the father of a young man who had acted in such a manner after he and his girlfriend broke up, he forwarded still images from a sex video to three other young people. 82 As well as sharing an image without consent, intimate images may be used non-consensually in a number of ways: using the image for a purpose other than that consented to by participants; refusing to delete the image when asked to do so; threats by one party to do something with the image that the other person would not want; and using images to degrade or harass another person (i.e. sending or showing someone unwanted images). 83 In the Committee s opinion, all of the examples listed above describe uses of intimate images that are intensely disrespectful and inappropriate, and all of these acts should be strenuously discouraged. However, the National Children's and Youth Law Centre, Submission no. 36, 15 June 2012, p. 3. Kelly Tallon, Ahram Choi, Matthew Keeley, Julianne Elliott and Debra Maher, New Voices/New Laws: School-age young people in New South Wales speak out about the criminal laws that apply to their online behaviour, National Children's and Youth Law Centre and Legal Aid New South Wales, 2012, p. 13. See Name withheld, Submission no. 3, 15 May These possible acts of non-consensual sexting were suggested by the Macedon Ranges Local Safety Committee, Submission no. 54, 3 July 2012, p
52 Inquiry into sexting Committee notes that even where the intent of the person disseminating the image has an element of malice, it is often not the case that they are acting in a manner intended to be sexually exploitative. The Committee considers sexually exploitative sexting separately below Adult recreational sexting The Committee heard that young people are not the only people who engage in peer-to-peer sexting many adults have also incorporated technology into their sex lives. The Office of the Child Safety Commissioner (OCSC) noted that there are many well-known cases where high-profile adults have engaged in sexting. 84 Celebrities such as Scarlett Johansson, Blake Lively, Vanessa Hudgens, Miley Cyrus and Lily Allen have all had nude photographs of themselves leaked online. 85 According to a telephone survey of 2252 adults undertaken in the United States in 2009: six per cent of adults have sent a sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude image to someone else by text, and 15 per cent of adults have received sexting messages; thirteen per cent of adults aged 18 to 29 have sent a sexting message, and 31 per cent have received them; and five per cent of adults aged 30 to 49 have sent a sexting message, and 17 per cent have received them. 86 It is likely that rates of sexting among adults in Australia are similar, however, the Committee is not aware of any Australian research confirming how widespread sexting is among adults Sexting in a family violence or coercive context The Committee heard evidence that sexted photographs or footage can sometimes be used as a tool to coerce or threaten the person depicted. This occurs most often in the context of a relationship breakdown, where a person may have originally sent their partner an intimate image of themselves willingly, or were happy for their partner to create the image, and the relationship has subsequently deteriorated. The nature of electronic communication makes the threat of releasing an intimate image or footage a powerful one images can be posted online or transmitted to a large number of people quickly and easily Office of the Child Safety Commissioner, Submission no. 25, 15 June 2012, p. 1. Australian Herald, 'Celeb nude photo scandals 'may be contributing to young women sexting'', Australian Herald, 19 February 2012, viewed 12 February 2013, < Amanda Lenhart, Rich Ling and Scott Campbell, 'Teens, adults and sexting: Data on sending/receiving sexually suggestive nude or nearly nude photos by Americans', viewed 12 February 2013, < 24
53 Chapter Two: Sexting: nature, incidence and prevalence The Eastern Community Legal Centre (ECLC), a community legal centre that offers free legal advice and assistance to the community, told the Committee that in the course of providing its family violence services, it has noticed: a concerning trend whereby generally young adult women have felt coerced to stay in abusive relationships for fear of a sexual image (which may have originally been provided consensually, or non-consensually) being released to third parties. 87 The ECLC provided a typical case study of how sexting can occur in a family violence context, based on its experience with victims of family violence. Case Study 1: Sexting in a family violence context 88 Maria, 21, has been in a relationship with Peter, 22, for two years. Maria ended the relationship three months ago due to Peter s possessive and jealous behaviour. During the relationship, Peter recorded a sexually explicit recording of Maria. Although she consented to making the recording, Maria felt that she was only doing so to stop Peter from complaining that she wasn t a good girlfriend. Maria later requested that Peter destroy the recording as she felt embarrassed about making it. Peter agreed to do so. However, since the break-up, Peter has insisted that Maria reconcile with him, or else he will send the recording to Maria s friends and family. Maria engaged in unwanted sexual relations with Peter as a way to stop him from releasing the images, but she ultimately wanted to end the relationship. When Maria finally refused Peter s demands, he also [alluded] to possessing an explicit recording of someone he once knew well on his Facebook page. Although he does not name Maria as being the subject of the recording, Maria is aware that he is referring to her and feels extremely humiliated and trapped. Maria s mutual friends are also aware that it is clear that Peter must be referring to Maria. This has caused Maria to feel further humiliated and ashamed. Maria does not want to tell her family about the existence of the recording, but lives in fear that it will be released. The Committee heard similar evidence from Women s Health West (WHW), one of 13 women s health services across the state of Victoria. 89 WHW indicated that sexting in a family violence context is an issue that affects older women as well as young women: coercion and the use of sexted images is also an issue for older women. We have women who come in as victims of family violence who have sent consensual images to a partner. Then there has been a breakdown of that relationship due to family violence, and he is using that as a mechanism by which to get her to come back to the relationship to ensure access to the Eastern Community Legal Centre, Submission no. 23, 15 June 2012, p. 2. ibid. Stephanie Rich, Health Promotion Worker, Women's Health West, Transcript of evidence, Melbourne, 27 July 2012, p
54 Inquiry into sexting children. I think that whilst it is an issue that is specific to young people and hence the need for education it is also an issue that affects adults as well. 90 The ECLC noted that harassing and threatening a former partner from an abusive relationship through communication technology continues the controlling behaviour of the abuser, and allows the abuser to continue their abuse through a very public forum, 91 as illustrated in Case Study 1. This abuse can cause immense trauma and distress to a victim of family violence. 92 The Office of the Victorian Privacy Commissioner (OVPC) also noted that sexting images are increasingly being used as tools for coercion and harassment, particularly when a relationship goes sour. 93 The OVPC suggested that one in ten teenagers have received a threat from a romantic partner, and noted that researchers report sexting has become an increasingly popular method of abuse for teens in dating relationships. 94 Coercive sexting has not attracted much media coverage, unlike young people s peer-to-peer sexting; however, it appears to be a serious issue, particularly for a significant number of women who are victims of family violence. The use of sexting images to coerce a victim can also occur in contexts other than family violence. The case of 23-year-old Melbourne man Shawn Rye provides an illustrative example. Case Study 2: Shaun Rye 95 Melbourne man Shaun Rye allegedly engaged in chatroom conversations with young men on the internet and then demanded money from them by threatening to reveal to their family and friends explicit images that he had taken of them. Rye would pretend to be a young and sexually available woman on webcams, playing a pre-recorded video of a young woman to the men on his webcam, then urging them to strip naked and masturbate on a promise that she would then strip naked. When the men had performed the sexual acts, Rye would show a recording of what they had been doing on the computer screen. He would then send a text message demanding that the men pay him money or the video recording would be released to friends and family via Facebook and other web pages. Rye blackmailed 43 men from Australia, Canada, the UK and the US over a six month period in 2011, stealing almost $8000. He was convicted of 47 charges of blackmail in September 2012, and sentenced to two and a half years jail with a non-parole period of 15 months Elly Taylor, Sexual and Reproductive Health Coordinator, Women's Health West, Transcript of evidence, Melbourne, 27 July 2012, p. 13. Eastern Community Legal Centre, Submission no. 23, 15 June 2012, p. 3. ibid. Office of the Victorian Privacy Commissioner, Submission no. 51, 29 June 2012, p. 11. ibid. The facts in this case study are drawn from Mark Russell, 'Bodybuilder's blackmail ruse exposed', The Age, 13 September 2012, viewed 13 September 2012, < Mark Russell, 'Bodybuilder jailed over sex ruse', The Age, 21 September 2012, viewed 21 September 2012, < 26
55 Chapter Two: Sexting: nature, incidence and prevalence Coercive sexting in family violence contexts and in other contexts is of concern to the Committee, given the considerable power that a person holding intimate images of another person may wield over the person depicted. The Committee considers how the criminal law applies in these situations in Chapter Four Unauthorised intimate recordings Another type of behaviour that can fall within the broad definition of sexting is the recording of, and the transmission of, explicit or intimate footage without the knowledge or consent of the person, or one of the people, in the footage. The case study example of Shaun Rye, provided above in relation to coercive sexting, also falls into this category of sexting. Unauthorised recordings can take a variety of forms for example, a hidden camera in a change room to capture children or adults in a state of undress; a concealed camera in a bedroom recording consensual sexual activity; using a mobile phone to surreptitiously film up a woman s skirt; or photographing or videoing a sexual assault. The NCLYC gave an example of a young person who was recorded without her consent: Karen (14 y/o) approached us after some girls had made a film of her while she was in the school showers. The girls had filmed her exposed private parts, then circulated the video online. Karen took the matter to the police, but felt that nothing was being done about it. She wanted to know whether there was anything else she could do. 96 There have been a number of cases of upskirting in recent years in Victoria where men have been caught secretly filming up the skirts of women on public transport and at public events such as the Australian Open tennis tournament. As discussed in Chapter Four, these incidents led the Victorian Parliament to introduce criminal offences to specifically prohibit this type of behaviour. 97 A number of particularly shocking incidents involving the recording of a sexual assault have also occurred over the last few years: In October 2006 the media was filled with reports of a sexual assault 3 months earlier of a 17-year-old woman. The 12 young men responsible had recorded and since continued to distribute digital video images of the assault. The Werribee DVD was initially sold in Werribee schools for $5 and later emerged for sale on Internet sites for up to $60 with excerpts also made freely available on YouTube. Six months later, Sydney newspapers reported a sexual assault of a 17-year-old woman involving five teenage Kelly Tallon, Ahram Choi, Matthew Keeley, Julianne Elliott and Debra Maher, New Voices/New Laws: School-age young people in New South Wales speak out about the criminal laws that apply to their online behaviour, National Children's and Youth Law Centre and Legal Aid New South Wales, 2012, p. 15. The Hon. Robert Hulls MP, Member for Niddrie, Parliamentary debates, Legislative Assembly, 21 June 2007, p
56 Inquiry into sexting young men who filmed the assault on their mobile phones and distributed the image among fellow school students. In May 2007, news stories were again filled with reports of a recording of a sexual assault, this time five men attacking two young women aged 15 in Geelong and recording the assault on their mobile phone. 98 WHW noted that when sexting involves the recording of a sexual assault, the severity and impact on victims/survivors is heightened by the potential use of technology to distribute the images globally, and for them to remain on the internet permanently Sexting in a sexually exploitative context While the Committee heard a number of examples where sexting occurred between young people who were peers, sexting can also occur in a context that is best described as sexually exploitative. This includes circumstances where sexting is accurately described as child pornography, because the intent of the person who produces, possesses or procures the sexual image is to gratify a desire to sexually exploit children. As new technologies have become available, they have been utilised by people who seek to sexually exploit children. Paedophiles can make use of social media to interact with and groom children, and photo and video sharing capabilities of mobile phones facilitate child sex offenders capturing, sending and soliciting pornographic images and footage of children. Case Study 3: Distribution of indecent videos and stories 100 In December 2012, a 23-year-old man who met a 14-year-old girl online was convicted of offences including producing, possessing and disseminating child pornography, and inciting an indecent act by a child. The man met the girl, who was Victorian, on an art-sharing website in 2011, and sent her indecent videos and stories he had written. According to the judge, the man, who was living in Adelaide, had used child pornography to influence a suggestible child to debase herself in front of a camera for his own sexual gratification. The man was jailed for two and a half years, with a non-parole period of one year and eight months. While the use by adults of sexual images (and other media) of children clearly constitutes child pornography, minors may also be involved in sexting conduct that is sexually exploitative of other minors. For example, it was reported in October 2012 that a 17-year-old girl and her 18-year-old boyfriend had been charged with offences relating to coercing three girls Anastasia Powell, 'New technologies, unauthorised visual images and sexual assault', ACSAA Aware, no. 23, pp. 6-12, 2009, p. 7. (citations omitted) Women's Health West, Submission no. 21, 15 June 2012, p. 4. The facts in this case study are drawn from Candice Marcus, 'Child porn conviction ends man's dream career', ABC News, 18 December 2012, viewed 16 January 2013, < 28
57 Chapter Two: Sexting: nature, incidence and prevalence aged between 13 and 15 into sending explicit pictures of themselves to the couple. 101 There is also a possibility that through online grooming a sex offender may blackmail a young person into continuing to provide images of themselves under the threat of making public and/or further distributing their images. 102 For example, notorious online sexual predator John Zimmerman used threats of releasing images of teens to coerce them into engaging in sexual acts with him, as described in the case study below. This case study demonstrates sexting in a sexually exploitative context, as well as being an example of coercive sexting. Case Study 4: John Raymond Zimmerman 103 John Raymond Zimmerman, 26, the former tour manager of popular but now-defunct teen band The Getaway Plan, used MySpace, Facebook and MSN to lure young girls into sex, via webcam and in person, and then forced some to continue submitting to his depraved acts by threatening to post naked photos of them or telling friends and family, the County Court heard. Zimmerman, who must serve a minimum of 12 years as a serious sex offender, was convicted of 87 charges including three rapes, 23 counts of sexual penetration of a child under 16 years, multiple indecent acts and using the internet for procuring minors and child pornography. The sickening crimes began in 2006 and continued until 2010, with a further victim claimed by Zimmerman even after his initial arrest in November 2009 following a complaint by one girl s mother, before police became aware of the full extent of the offences or victims, the court was told. All but two of Zimmerman s 55 victims were aged between 12 and 15 years, with a number subjected to gross sexual acts at school grounds and in vehicles, while many were threatened with violence or further harassment if they refused to comply. Zimmerman used his position in the music industry to entrap victims with offers of concert tickets, or fame and money which never materialised, the court heard. It is abundantly clear that teenage users of social media applications such as MySpace and Facebook are constantly vulnerable to manipulative online attack from determined, skilful, unscrupulous and serial sexual predators, Judge Maidment said Lacey Burley, 'Couple charged with child sexting', The Chronicle, 2 October 2012, viewed 11 February 2013, < Australian Federal Police, Submission no. 57, 11 July 2012, p. 2. Mark Dunn, 'John Raymond Zimmerman jailed for multiple rapes and grooming online', Herald Sun, 16 December 2011, viewed 16 January 2013, < 29
58 Inquiry into sexting The Committee is cognisant that this type of sexting behaviour can and does occur. The Committee recognises the need to ensure that sexually exploitative conduct and materials, including but not restricted to child pornography, remains criminal under the law and attracts appropriate criminal sanctions. 2.3 How common is peer-to-peer sexting? Several submissions to the Inquiry noted that to date there has been little robust research on sexting in Australia, and that consequently it is difficult to ascertain how common sexting is among young people. 104 The Australian Privacy Foundation noted that statistics available from Australia and elsewhere suggested that sexting is more than a myth, and less than an epidemic. 105 The Committee reviewed available statistical data in the course of this Inquiry, and also heard anecdotal evidence about the frequency and character of sexting from a number of key stakeholders Statistics A number of submissions to the Inquiry 106 drew the Committee s attention to a 2011 review of US sexting studies that found studies on sexting to date had used inconsistent methodology, and that many had design flaws. The authors of the review warned that citing statistics about sexting could be unwise, and recommended that journalists reporting on the topic simply say: there are no consistent and reliable findings at this time to estimate the true prevalence of the problem. 107 These concerns should be considered when reviewing the studies referred to below. To date little research has been conducted in Australia or internationally on rates of sexting by young people. Ms Shelley Walker told the Committee that around 13 studies have been conducted around sexting internationally. Less than a third of these are Australian, and only three studies have been published in academic journals. 108 The proportion of young people who practice sexting reported in these studies varies significantly from around four to 40 per cent Australian Council of Educational Research, Submission no. 35, 15 June 2012, p. 1; Lesley-Anne Ey, Submission no. 5, 30 May 2012; headspace, Submission no. 22, 15 June 2012, p. 1; Law Institute of Victoria, Submission no. 46, 22 June 2012, p. 4; Women's Health West, Submission no. 21, 15 June 2012, p. 6. Australian Privacy Foundation, Submission no. 8, 8 June 2012, p. 1. Office of the Victorian Privacy Commissioner, Submission no. 51, 29 June 2012, p. 5; Women's Health Grampians, Submission no. 14, 14 June 2012, p. 5. Kaitlin Lounsbury, Kimberley J Mitchell and David Finkelhor, The true prevalence of 'sexting', Crimes Against Children Research Center, University of New Hampshire, cited by Office of the Victorian Privacy Commissioner, Submission no. 51, 29 June 2012, p. 5. Shelley Walker, Transcript of evidence, Melbourne, 18 September 2012, p. 23. ibid. 30
59 Chapter Two: Sexting: nature, incidence and prevalence Australian statistics Rates of sexting by young people in Victoria, and in Australia more broadly, are uncertain. The first investigation into the prevalence of sexting was an online survey conducted by Australian Girlfriend magazine in The magazine reported that of 588 young Australian women who participated in the survey, 40 per cent had been asked by others to send a naked or semi-naked image of themselves. 111 While this finding generated significant media attention in the media worldwide, the study was not population representative, and the results of the study are not available to the public, bringing into question the credibility of the research. 112 In its submission to the Inquiry, the Australian Council of Educational Research (ACER) cited a Victorian study on the prevalence of sexting, which reported substantially lower rates than the Girlfriend study: A 2009 survey of 4770 students in years 5-11 from 39 independent schools in Victoria found that overall, 7.3% of girls had been asked to send a nude picture of themselves. This figure tended to increase with age: 9.3% of girls in Year 8, 14.8% in Year 9, 11.8% in Year 10 and 16.3% in Year BoysTown, which operates the national youth counselling and telephone advice service Kids Helpline, also provided some statistics on sexting to the Committee, based on research it undertook with 548 young Australians under the age of 25 who had experienced cyberbullying. 114 Around 35 per cent of youths surveyed reported that the cyberbullying they had suffered involved what could be described as sexting behaviour that is, having embarrassing images of them posted online, and/or gross images sent to them. 115 A poll question on the Kids Helpline website operated by BoysTown found that 40 per cent of 1121 respondents had reportedly engaged in sexting behaviour. 116 WHW told the Committee that in 2011 it conducted research with 187 year nine students in Victoria. This research did not ask students whether they had engaged in sexting, but sought their perceptions about whether sexting was occurring and whether they thought it was problematic. When asked if sexting was an issue for students at their school, around one in three boys (30%) and one in four girls (23%) reported that sexting was AAP, 'Technology fuelling sexting craze: study', The Age, 12 May 2009, viewed 13 February 2013, < Shelley Walker, Transcript of evidence, Melbourne, 18 September 2012, p. 23. ibid. Australian Council of Educational Research, Submission no. 35, 15 June 2012, p. 1. However, ACER noted that the survey referred to was a convenience sample rather than a representative sample, and no data were collected about the contexts in which the girls were asked for such images, nor how many chose to comply with the request. Megan Price and John Dalgleish, 'Cyberbullying: Experiences, impacts and coping strategies as described by Australian young people', Youth Studies Australia, vol. 29, no. 2, pp , BoysTown, Submission no. 9, 12 June 2012, p. 7. ibid. Note the self-selecting nature of this poll the percentage of respondents who have engaged in sexting behaviour is unlikely to be representative of the general population of young people, as the young people who are not engaging in sexting may be less likely to have visited the Kids Helpline website. 31
60 Inquiry into sexting somewhat of a concern. Around one in six girls (14%) and one in ten boys (11%) reported that sexting among students was both frequent and serious in nature. 117 In 2012 the NCYLC and Legal Aid NSW released a report on sexting and cyberbullying The report described results from f a survey undertaken with around 950 students, mostly from New South Wales, and mostly aged in their mid-teens (82% were 14 to 17 years old). 119 Survey respondents weree asked (among other things) whether they or o someone e they knew had ever been involved in sexting. The survey found that: t the mostt common sexting-related experience was being asked for f a photo (37.1%), followed by being sent a photo (29.5%) and having a photo shared without permission (17.2%); rates of sexting varied across demographic groups. More girls than boys had been asked, or knew someonee who had been asked, to share a nude or sexy photo (39.3% vs. 27%); and rates of sexting increased with age 16- to t 17-year-old respondents were more than three times as likely as 12- to 13-year-olds to have experienced, or know someone who hass experienced, any kind of sexting event. 120 Figure 3: Sexting experiences by age Women's Health West, Submission no. 21, 15 June 2012, p. 5. Kelly Tallon, Ahram Choi, Matthew Keeley, Julianne Elliott and Debra Maher, New Voices/New Laws: School-age young people in New South S Wales speak out about the criminal laws that t apply to their online behaviour, National Children's and Youth Law Centre and Legal Aid New South Wales, ibid., 28. ibid., ibid., 34, Figure
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