Sexting as a Form of Sexual Expression or Part of The Continuum of

Sexual Exploitation

Farzana Adell
Researcher, Gender Studies
September, 2023

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Abstract
Sexting the act of electronically sharing sexually explicit content has emerged as a pervasive form

of communication in today’s technologically driven society. This article delves into the multifaceted

ethical and legal challenges posed by sex within the context of modern technology social media platforms

and the internet. Coined from the fusion of sex, texting, and sexting encompasses the transmission of

sexually suggestive messages, explicit images and videos featuring individuals in a nude or sexual state

through smartphones internet platforms or text-based software often in response to sexual desires. Its

recognition as a concept and terminology dates back to 2005, subsequently gaining official recognition

in 2009. This article offers a comprehensive examination of sexting scheduling in light of its preliminary

risk-diverse manifestation as sexual a sexual expression and the continuum that spans from contextual

engagement to sexual exploitation particularly among youths and young adults who are intimately

connected to mobile devices social media platforms and digital technology. over recent years, sexting has

evolved into a progressively proactive phenomenon occurring both consensually driven by mutual desire

and non-consensually often constituting harassment.

In the rapidly evolving landscape of technology and sexting practice, the digital realm has

outpaced the development of relevant laws and regulations. Consequently, a contentious issue arises

regarding the legal distinction between pornography and sexual abuse in the context of sexting. While

sexting among consenting adults may be perceived as a non-issue, it has far-reaching implications that

touch on various aspects of society including legal frameworks education social dynamics work

environments and future career prospects. This article serves as a critical exploration of the ethical and

legal dimensions of sexting offering insight into the challenges and complexities surrounding this

contemporary trend. By examining the evolving landscape of technology social norms and the law it aims

to foster a deeper understanding of sexting’s impact on individuals and society as a whole.

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Introduction

Sexting is a contemporary trend in communication that raises ethical and legal issues in the

current modern world of technology, social media platforms, and the internet. The word sexting itself

is a combination of (Sex) and (texting) and means electronic communication of sending messages,

sexually explicit pictures, and videos that show one or more people in a nude or sexual state via

smartphone, internet platform or online through texting software for responding to sexual desire. The

concept and term of sexting was recognized primarily in 2005 by the Daily Telegraph and became an

official word in 2009 (Gasso et al., 2019a).

This essay focuses on the preliminary risk of sexting, its forms as sexual expressions, and its

continuum as sexual exploitation among youths and young people connected to mobile phones, social

media platforms, technology and the internet. Over recent centuries, sexting has become a gradually

provocative phenomenon that people do sexting on a consensual and non-consensual basis consensual

is a mutual longing and non-consensual is harassment.

Currently, technology and sexting practices are developing so quickly that the internet and

technology have overtaken the laws. Some experts contend that it is still controversial whether the law

can accurately distinguish between an instance of pornography and sexual abuse. Sexting among

consenting adults is not considered an issue of importance, but it is a significant issue covering several

different subjects, including law, education, social and work life, and future careers.

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Sexting as a Sexual Expression Sexting

The conduct of sexting is a complex form of sexual expression which allows individuals to

explore their desires, fantasies, and personal boundaries safely and intimately. Frequently, it takes

place within the context of casual relationships and involves the exchange of explicit content. Sexting

can provide a sense of liberation and empowerment in a society that traditionally stigmatizes sexual

expression. It also serves as a medium for individuals to discover and communicate their unique sexual

preferences and needs (Hasinoff, 2013).

Assessing the sexual intentions physically, and knowing if someone is interested in you

sexually is a challenging task. However, sexual activity is crucial for the survival of the human species

and is considered by most people as a vital part of their life. Therefore, sometimes people avoid openly

disclosing their intent to have sex physically. Instead, the young people engage in intentions with

sexting which could be easily interpreted as someone has a desire to meet. Sexting allows them to

have multiple options that do without having to feel embarrassed or rejected (Lindgren et al., 2008).

Sexting as sexual expression, which involves sending sexually explicit images, videos, and

photos digitally or on social media creates certain risks for the youth and young people possibly the

image would be shared with unintended recipients, and unintended recipients may share the images or

message without the consent of the main sender to another person. In this instance, the main sender

cannot access control over the distribution of explicit content to a wider audience, which leads to

embarrassment, harassment, or even cyberbullying of the person in the image (Mishna, 2023).

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 According to BBC (2017) thousands of children, and even a boy at the age of five years old,

were investigated regarding their sexting. Since 2013,4,000 cases of children reported that they have

produced explicit images of themselves and sent them out to others (BBC, 2017).

Over the past five years, police in England and Wales have looked into more than 6,000 cases

of sexual offences involving children under 14 years old. Shockingly, over 300 of these cases were

related to primary school-aged children. The investigation, based on the data from 27 policies, has

revealed that children as young as four years old are being investigated for taking or sharing indecent

images of themselves or other children. For instance, a nine-year-old boy was found to have posted a

nude selfie on Facebook Messenger, while a nine-year-old girl posted images on Instagram that led to

their classification as offenders in police records. Between January 2017 and August 2019, authorities

looked into a total of 6,499 cases involving children under 14 years old. In some countries, such as

part of Australia, and the US, consensual sexting among teenagers is no longer considered a crime

offence, however, in England and Wales it is illegal under the law that was introduced in 1978

(Protection of Children Act). This law states that it is unlawful for anyone to take, make or share

indecent images of children, even if the images are self-generated and shared with consent

(Halliday,2019).

Sexting as part of sexual exploitation

Self-made sexually explicit images and their sharing through a technological device called sexting

have been noticed well in recent years due to the increase in the participation of teenagers in using

technology with different social media platforms, and the internet. The research indicates that it has

potential risk functions and a threshold for exposure to unsafe types of victimization.

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Sexting can be part of sexual exploitation, particularly when it involves non-consenting individuals,

adolescents or coerced participation. The potential for sexts to be shared without consent poses serious

privacy concerns and can lead to devastating consequences including online grooming, cyberbullying,

revenge porn, and emotional distress. In this instance, sexting becomes a tool for manipulation, control,

and even blackmail -- perpetuating power imbalances and violating personal boundaries (Gasso et al.,

2019b). Sarah, a 13-year-old girl is one of the victims of online grooming her Snapchat account was

accessed by one of her peers at school and distributed her explicit image among other students

(Zaccaro,2022).

Girls or females are the most prospective victims of exploitation. According to a study, the

main challenge is the lack of clarity for perpetrators. The identity of the perpetrators remains difficult

to define and to understand whether the peer, another child or adults of a family member are the

perpetrators (May-Chahal, 2017). Almost, 24 % of children (one in four middle and high school

students) were asked to share sexually explicit images, and the other 14% of teenagers reported

sending texts with explicit sexual images to some of the older students, and boys are more likely to

participants and recipient of it (Hinduja and Patchin, 2020). The number of individuals who have dealt

with and experienced cyberbullying at some point in their lifetime doubled from 18 per cent in 2007

to 37 per cent in 2019 (Patchin and Hinduja, 2019).

Over 60 per cent of students who experienced cyberbullying reported that it hugely impacted

their ability to learn and to feel safe while they are present at school (Hinduja, 2018). Nearly 18 per

cent of youths reported self-harming because of cyberbullying at least once in their life, and 6 per cent

of students have digitally self-harmed, anonymously posting harmful content online (Patchin and

Hinduja, 2017) (Moto, McRee, and Deryck, 2018). Victims of bullying, and cyberbullying attempt

suicide at least two times in their life. This shows that suicide ideation among adolescents doubled

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 since 2008 and caused death among youths and people between the ages of 10 to 34 years old (Hinduja

and Patchin, 2018) and (Andrissen, 2018).

Motivational and Context Understanding

The motivation behind sexting is crucial to assess whether it aligns more with sexual expression or

sexual exploitation. Several factors could be the reason such as peer pressure, desire for validation, curiosity

and the influence of media and social media. All of these play a role in encouraging youth to engage in sexting

(Bianchi, et al., 2021).

Adolescents engage in sexting with sexting strategies as their addiction to social media

motivates them to expect more sexting. Males are more motivated to have more sexting expectations

than females, and the expectation plays a great role in determining sexting performances and

motivation.

The form of experimental sexting is an intimate form of communication in that sexual materials

are exchanged between partners throughout an intimate relationship to explore sexuality. The other

type of sexting is the risky one, which normally has a high-risk form of communication in which

sexting occurs at the same time with other risky conduct like using alcohol or engaging with a stranger,

increasing the chance of online dissemination of sexual matters (Rogona et al., 2023).

The tendency to sexting is higher in youths who consume drugs, and alcohol or meet unknown

people online. Sometimes young people use sexting to avoid negative emotions while they do not have

a better source for sharing emotional problems and negative emotions such as anger, loneliness and

attention seeking. These feelings are proven to predict risky sexting in young people (Moro et al.,

2019) (Yoder, Hansen and Precht, 2018).

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The Role of Education and Empowerment in Reducing Sexting

Studies show that children are prolific users of the Internet, which raises concerns about the

impact of the Internet and sexting in the future lives of children. With the prevalence of online

communication, someone’s digital footprint plays a vital role in people’s lives in facilitating

opportunities, the sharing of information and generating data through purposive action or passive

recordings that are used online (Buchanan, et al., 2017).

To mitigate potential harm and support the positive aspects of sexting, comprehensive

education plays a pivotal role. Education should focus on fostering a healthy attitude towards

sexuality, consent and digital citizenship. Empowering individuals to make informed decisions about

their sexual expression can help mitigate the risks associated with sexting in the modern world of

technology and the internet (Karain, 2014). The usage of social media and the internet can mark the

future careers of young people or their higher education towards job prospects in the future. Creating

their identity in social media from an early age and generating stories with inappropriate and highly

sexual images lead to a negative focus on children (Buchanan, et al., 2017).

Consent and respect in a relationship are important for young people to understand that sharing

intimate content without the expressed consent of the other party is a breach of trust and also illegal

in many jurisdictions. Communication of satisfaction means guaranteeing safety and promoting the

path of relational and sexual equality. This condition suggests some ways to improve sexting

education, and awareness by discussing the potentially rewarding normative nature of fear and

anxieties surrounding positive satisfaction. Sexting those results in negative emotions such as

humiliation, shame, anxiety and feeling guilty, might be avoided among young people.

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 Another concern is the unintended impact sexting has on a relationship. For example, sexting

communication can reveal incompatibility between partners or provoke feelings of jealousy or anger

in the partner (Edwards, Rehman and Byers, 2022).

In addition, there is peer support that offers valuable emotional support and information to

those who have experienced sexting. They share advice on how to navigate negative online sexual

encounters and minimize any lasting effects based on their own experience.

By providing a supportive environment, peers help individuals understand they are not alone

and should not blame themselves for being victimized. This scenario is common, and young people

have established norms for managing this situation that prioritize mutual support. It has been observed

that some individuals engage in victim blaming or retaliation against those who violate the form of

“safe” sexting. However, the research shows that young people are developing their guidelines and

norms to promote safe sexting practices; they still face challenges in effectively communicating these

messages to ensure they are widely understood and accepted (Hartikainen, Razi and Wisniewski,

2021).

Young people and adults need to be aware of the potential for cyberbullying while sharing

explicit content through text messages. Raising awareness about this issue and its impact can help

young people better understand the importance of respecting each other’s boundaries.

It is important to be aware of the potential for cyberbullying while sharing explicit content

through text messages. Raising awareness about this issue and its impact can help young people better

understand the importance of respecting each other’s boundaries.

Although schools have actively worked to prevent internet abuse by creating acceptable

policies and implementing website filtering websites for digital safety, bullying and abuse.

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 Parents and educators must hold significant responsibility in guiding young individuals to

comprehend the outcomes of their choices in the digital era, where both positive and negative text and

images are easily disseminated. Mentoring by parents, and educators and restrictions and rules in

using the internet for young people cause to reduce sexting and cyberbullying (Siegle, 2010).

Adolescents between the ages of 12-17 on a mental health forum researcher found, how and

what teens discussed regarding their online sexual interactions. The majority of youth sought support

(83%), while 15% of them have looked to connect with others and 5% of them have offered advice

about sexting, sexual orientation, and sexual abuse including explicit content. Females reported

receiving unsolicited nude images from strangers and struggled with declining sexting requests from

acquaintances. Additionally, some adolescents who sought support received unwelcome sexual

solicitations, prompting advice to be given among peers on which users to avoid (Razi, Badillo-

Urquiola and Wisniewski, 2020).

Legal and Ethical Consideration

at preventing non-consensual pornography and safeguarding adolescents from exploitation have been

enacted in numerous jurisdictions.

Digitally sexualized violence, such as sexting and the non-consensual sharing of intimate

images particularly affects more women and girls. Young females are more susceptible to sending

explicit images under pressure or coercion from their male partners or peers, compared to young males.

Non-consensual distribution of confidential images, commonly known as “Revenge Porn” generally

involves sharing sexually explicit or intimate images without consent (Killean, MacAliden, and

Dowds, 2022).

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 According to the (1.9) legal frameworks of the intimate image abuse report, the

implementation of laws against revenge pornography brings up four crucial concerns. The primary

concerns pertain to the type and substance of the images. When it comes to the laws against revenge

pornography, there are some important concerns to consider. One of the main concerns revolves

around the types of images that are covered by these laws.

Sometimes the images may have been taken by someone else without their consent or

manipulated through photo editing. In some cases, intimate images are obtained without the victim’s

knowledge or consent, such as by hacking or photographing them while they are asleep, unconscious

or during a sexual assault. The images are often shared on peer-to-peer networks or published online

(Law Commission, 2022).

Different regions use different terms to describe the images in question, such as intimate

images, private sexual materials, nude images semi-nude images or sexually explicit images.

However, it can be difficult to determine exactly what qualifies as sexual or intimate images since the

law often states that these images must not be typically seen in public (Gov.UK, 2020).

At some point, lack of clarity raises questions about whether certain images that might not be

considered intimate or sexual by a person would still be covered by the law. For instance, it is unclear

whether the sharing of an intimate image of a Muslim woman without her Hijab is criminalized,

whether the female breast includes cleavage shots and whether transgender or intersex individuals are

protected under such legislation (Henry and Powell, 2016).

Those who have experienced non-consensual sharing of explicit content may need support to

prioritize their well-being as victims to provide appropriate assistance in terms of legal support,

counselling and resources to deal with emotional and psychological impact.

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 In some practical investigations of abuse, law enforcement investigations cannot rely on child

sexual abuse victims’ disclosure to regulate whether the abuse was captured by photographs or videos.

It is estimated that 60% to 80% of the children do not mention the sexual abuser who is filming

or photographing them until they reach the age of adulthood. Furthermore, most cases of sexting

abusers remain unreported to law enforcement and even a smaller number of victims reach the justice

system. The reason for non-disclosure may be the victim feels shame or has fear of the consequence

of disclosure which somehow would incriminate the victims themselves and this encourages the victim

not to report to law enforcement (Cullen, et al., 2020).

Conclusion
In conclusion, sexting is a multifaceted matter that involves both sexual expression and

exploitation. Although some people see it as a mutual activity for those who want to experiment with

their sexuality online, there are considerable risks and potential compensations that come with sexting.

Sexting can potentially be used for sexual exploitation, especially if it involves unwilling

participants and minors in a coercive manner. Sharing of sexts without consent can create significant

privacy issues, cyberbullying, revenge porn, and emotional distress. In such cases, sexting becomes a

tool for manipulation, control, and even blackmail, perpetuating a power imbalance and violating

personal boundaries.

It is important to comprehend the reasons and situation surrounding sexting to determine if it leans

towards sexual expression or sexual exploitation. Various factors, including peer pressure, the need for

affirmation, curiosity, and media influence, can impact a person's decision to engage in sexting.

Therefore, it is crucial to acknowledge these factors and provide comprehensive education and support

to address them.

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 Education and awareness have a crucial role in reducing the potential harm of sexting and

promoting its positive aspects. Prioritizing a healthy perspective on sexuality, consent, and digital

citizenship in education is essential. Educating individuals to make well-informed choices regarding their

sexual expression may help decrease the risks associated with sexting and encourage responsible

behaviour.

The discussion on sexting is complex due to its legal and ethical implications. Several regions

have introduced regulations to prevent non-consensual pornography and safeguard minors from

exploitation. Such laws intend to hold individuals responsible for disseminating explicit content without

authorization while prioritizing the protection of the rights and welfare of all parties involved. Ethical

considerations also arise, highlighting the significance of respecting privacy, consent, and personal limits.

To sum up, sexting as a form of sexual expression can fall on a spectrum, ranging from consensual

and empowering to abuse, and harm. While it can provide an avenue for people to explore their desires

and fantasies, it also poses significant risks, especially when consent is absent or compromised. To strike

a balance that permits responsible and consensual sexual expression while safeguarding individuals from

harm and exploitation, society needs to prioritize comprehensive education, empowerment, and the

implementation of legal and ethical protections.

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