A LEADING women’s health organisation has welcomed the first step towards new laws around ‘‘sexting’’.
The state parliament law reform committee’s report into sexting, tabled last week, recommends creating an offence for non-consensual sending of explicit images via mobile phones or social media.
It also recommends changing laws so minors and young adults don’t face child pornography charges over sexting.
Liberal MP Clem Newton-Brown, the committee chairman, said laws protecting people from non-consensual distribution of explicit images were relatively weak and missed the mark.
In contrast, laws surrounding child pornography were so strong they applied even to children who took pictures of themselves.
“The law does not adequately recognise that sexting by young people is different to the sharing of images by paedophiles, and the law does not adequately recognise that real and significant harm is done to people of all ages when explicit images are distributed to third parties without consent.”
Dr Robyn Gregory, CEO of Footscray-based Women’s Health West, said the report incorporated each of her organisation’s key recommendations.
“Given the context of contemporary culture, media and the internet, which sexualise young women, sexting is often seen by girls as an obligation and by boys as a right,” she said. The inquiry found social repercussions are worse for young women than for young men.
Women’s Health West wants a focus on respectful relationships education as well as risk-reduction strategies, such as cyber-safety training for students and teachers.
The Victorian government has six months to respond to the report.
