One in three Australians aged 16 – 19 have reported being the target of “revenge porn” and other forms of image-based abuse, according to the new results of a landmark RMIT study.
Researchers also found that one in four people aged 20-29 have experienced at least one incidence of image-based abuse, with 20% of all respondents saying someone had taken a sexual or nude image of them without consent.
The new findings, drawn from a survey of over 4,200 people, reveal the horrifying prevalence of image-based abuse in its varying forms.
The study goes beyond quantifying the images taken without consent, and assesses how often they’re shared: 11% of respondents reported nude or sexual images had been sent to others without consent, and 9% said they’d been victims of “sextortion”, or the threat of the images being spread.
“We need to rethink our approach both from a legal perspective but also as a community, to change attitudes that often blame the victims and play down the very real harm caused by image-based abuse.”
