Sexting In Australia: Distribution Of Explicit Pictures Without Consent Illegal With Penalty Of 2 Years Imprisonment
Australia is among the first countries in the world to deal with laws relating to sexting. The laws stated that distribution of explicit pictures without consent of the individual whose photos were being distributed was illegal and could lead to imprisonment of up to two years.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, previous laws on sexting stated it could be classified as child pornography even if the image was taken and sent by the subject of the image itself. The new laws, however, state it is okay if the subject of the image shared the image and others share the image with their consent, but there should only be a two-year age gap between the two parties.
A survey conducted on 509 young people between the ages of 15 and 29 at a music festival, Big Day Out in Melbourne, showed three-quarters of those surveyed agreed it should be made illegal to pass a sext without the permission of the subject of the image. Almost half of the respondents also said sexting should be made illegal for those below the age of 18.
Almost half of them (46 percent) admitted to having sent sexually explicit pictures of themselves through their mobile phones and the Internet. They also admitted such a practice was risky. Eighty-six percent of the youngsters agreed that for a girl to send a naked picture of herself was risky but only 76 percent said it carried the same risk for boys.
The lead researcher of the survey, Megan Lim, who is co-head at the Burnet Institute's Centre for Population Health and an ANPHA Preventive Health Research Fellow, said the survey revealed young people were worried about the risk of the photos being distributed widely. She noted there had been cases where young girls from the U.S. had committed suicide because of being bullied after their boyfriend made a nude picture of them public.
Dr Lim also said youngsters who were more sexually mature, in addition to being interested in sex, had a higher chance of watching pornography and indulging in sex early. She added sexting and pornography had become very common among teenagers, in turn, affecting their sexual behaviour.