Learn about our research into sexual image-sharing among kids aged 11 to 13 and what these insights mean for parents.
Self-generated child sexual abuse material rose by 417% from 2019 to 2022 (38,500 cases to 199,000).
11-13-year-olds made up two-thirds of total cases of self-generated sexual imagery in 2022 (130,000).
Girls featured in 97% of self-generated sexual abuse reports in 2022.
Self-generated abuse material is sexual imagery (pictures and videos) created by a child. They might use smartphones or webcams to create images before sharing them with others online.
The reasons children create this content varies. In some cases, adult offenders might coerce, deceive or manipulate children into sharing sexual images of themselves online. Or, children might share an intimate image consensually with another child. But someone else might share it further without their consent or knowledge.
We are conducting innovative research into effective prevention of sexual image-sharing among kids aged 11 to 13.
We currently know little about how to effectively prevent 11-13-year-olds from sharing sexual images online or pressuring others to do so. So, we’re working with panels of 11-18-year-olds, parents and professionals – including children with additional learning needs — to identify:
In the age of smartphones and social media, children are increasingly exploring relationships and intimacy in the digital world. Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) should equip children with the skills to navigate digital relationships. And this should include pressures to share sexual content online.
However, our panels suggest that RSE lessons are not cutting through. This is because:
Without adequate classroom-based learning, children – in particular girls – are turning to their peers for advice. Advice from other children varies in reliability and safety.
Girls are more likely to feel pressure from boys to take and share intimate images of themselves. They gravitated to prevention messages about healthy and unhealthy relationships, and the impact of ‘negative attention’ online.
Boys, on the other hand, spoke to us about the ‘top down’ pressure from boys in older year groups to share sexual images of girls. They told us boys share or show each other girls’ images this to ‘prove’ themselves among male peer groups.
Boys responded more positively to prevention messages about resisting male peer pressure to receive and share girls’ nudes. Additionally, they responded well to messages around the legal and moral consequences of sharing sexual images.
Children told us that involvement from adults on image-sharing is often reactive. They said that parents and teachers generally only become meaningfully involved after an image is already shared and out in the world.
They told us that age-appropriate conversations should be more proactive. Discussions should come around the time they are given access to their own smartphone or device. This is when the pressure to share sexual imagery starts to build. For most children, this happens around the transition to secondary school.
Our panels suggest that classroom methods still have a role to play in educating children about nude image sharing. Children see the value in a trusted adult delivering the session and sessions which encourage discussion and sharing. However, those delivering sessions should be well-informed and trained to deliver the topic
They also told us that digital routes (e.g. on-platform advice and nudges) will work to reach a large number of children with ‘in-the-moment’ prevention messages. This can help, especially if nudges lead out to signpost high-quality advice.
Parents and carers are crucial in supporting interventions to protect children from harmful image-sharing. A key way to do this is through constructive and ongoing conversations.
Our research into image-based abuse found that 13- to 17-year-olds were most likely to turn to a parent if they received an unwanted nude image or video. This shows that parents are the first port of call for most children when dealing with online safety issues. As such, it’s important for them to have the right tools to support their child.
Conversations about image-sharing with kids should start early. Essentially, this is as soon as your child gets access to their own device or uses the internet unsupervised.
Start with a discussion about how hard it is to regain control of an image after it’s shared online. Then, start an open and honest dialogue, reminding your child that you won’t judge them and will always support them.
Our research suggests that different messages work for girls and for boys at the age of 11 to 13:
We offer a range of resources for parents and carers to support conversations about a range of online safety topics, including sexual image-sharing.
Explore some of these resources below.
See related advice and practical tips to support children online.
