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Cyber sexual bullying (2007)

In 2004 a video text of two teenagers engaged in a sexual act was circulated and eventually put on sale on ebay (who eventually removed the listing).  In the same year a girl in the eighth grade (Year 8) of a private American high school made a digital recording of herself simulating fellatio on a mop.  After sending the clip to a boy that she liked, he circulated it electronically to all his friends, one of which put it online on a social networking site.  Her popularity increased and she became a local celebrity (Levy 2005).

With the rise in ownership of increasingly mobile technologies coupled with the growing popularity of social networking sites, young people are making and circulating images and videos of themselves with increasing frequency.  Digital technology allows the results to be immediate; you can take a picture with the camera on your mobile phone and then circulate it straight away by text (SMS) or Bluetooth or post it online.

As described in the examples above young people are taking more and more sexually explicit pictures of themselves and circulating them immediately.  However, not all photos and videos are posted or even created with consent.

The rise of 'happy slapping' has been well documented in the media.  This is where an unsuspecting victim is physically assaulted and the assailant's accomplice records the assault, usually on a mobile phone camera.  This video is then circulated via text or Bluetooth and can be posted online.  Similarly, there have been anecdotal reports of images and video clips of young people in a sexualised context being posted online or e-mailed or circulated via Bluetooth.  Like happy slapping, some video clips have included sexual assaults.

Happy slapping is part of the growing phenomenon of cyber bullying.  Most disturbingly, it is becoming as familiar in schools as it is in workplaces.  Cyber bullying is similar to traditional forms of bullying - such as name calling, teasing, spreading rumours, being embarrassed or discredited - but happens, or is facilitated by, electronic devices such as mobile phones, computers and the internet.  A recent study showed that cyber bullying is the second most prevalent type of bullying after direct verbal bullying (Noret & Rivers 2007).

According to the MSN Cyber Bullying Report (2006)

  • One in ten UK teens have experienced cyberbullying
  • Half of UK parents are unaware of the phenomenon of cyber bullying (48%)
  • 74% of teens did not go anywhere for advice the last time they were cyber bullied
  • One in eight said that cyber bullying is worse than physical bullying.

The nature of technologies available to young people means that malicious material can be posted online and spread immediately using a number of different methods.  Mobile phones can be used to access the internet and Bluetooth devices in phones and laptops can spread material instantly and simultaneously to a large number of people.  Even when materials are removed from a website, it is impossible to remove all traces of them from cyberspace as they may have been copied and forwarded to other individuals and websites.

  • Girls are twice as likely (20.6%) to be cyber bullied than boys (10.4%) (Noret & Rivers 2007)
  • Girls are twice as likely to know someone that has been cyber bullied, and boys are less than half as likely to have been victims of cyber bullying themselves - 7% of boys compared to 18% of girls (MSN 2006)
  • 14% of girls and 10% of boys think that cyber bullying is worse than physical bullying (MSN 2006).

By law, every school should have an anti-bullying policy and they should be updated to reflect the rise of cyber bullying.  In addition, incidences of cyber bullying can be sanctioned under the following laws:

  • Protection from Harassment Act 1997
  • The Malicious Communications Act 1988
  • Section 43 of the Telecommunications Act 1984

Website and message board providers also have terms and conditions against posting malicious or inflammatory material, and codes of conduct governing the behaviour of its users so victims, or advocates on behalf of victims, should complain and request the removal of offending material.

This virtual footprint of materials could jeopardise a young person's future prospects of employment and, as double standards still abound as to what is sexually acceptable behaviour from boys and girls, it is more likely to have negative consequences on girl victims than it is on boy victims.

 

ORGANISATIONS & WEBSITES

Beat Bullying

http://www.beatbullying.org

Child Exploitation & Online Protection Centre

http://www.ceop.gov.uk

Sexual Bullying Exploitation Forum

http://www.sbef.org.uk

WOMANKIND Worldwide

http://www.womankind.org.uk/sexual-bullying-definition.html

Ariel Levy (2005), Female Chauvinist Pigs: Women and the rise of raunch culture, Free Press.

 

POLICY & RESEARCH

The Prevalence and Correlates of Cyberbullying in Adolescence: Results of a Five-Year Cohort Study
 Ian Rivers, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh & Nathalie Noret, York St John University, 2007

Further information at http://www.qmuc.ac.uk/marketing/press_releases/Bullying.htm

MSN CyberBullying Report
 Microsoft, 2006

Putting U In The Picture - Mobile Bullying Survey (PDF, 196kb)
NCH, 2005

 

NEWS ARTICLES

Girls more likely to suffer cyberbullying
 The Guardian, 22 March 2007

Pupil mentors will be trained to beat bullying
 The Guardian, 15 November 2007

Online ads combat cyber bullies
 The Guardian, 21 September 2007

Teachers call for YouTube ban over 'cyber-bullying'
 The Observer, 29 July 2007

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