Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
For 17-year-old Paula "N", everything was going great with her boyfriend, a 20-year-old, but after a couple of months of dating, the COVID-19 pandemic came along and got in the way of them seeing each other.
A month later he asked her for a photo, one of those where the skin takes center stage, he went from asking her to show her back to one of her naked torso, and six photos later she was already naked on his smartphone.
Two weeks later Paula was in the devices of all of Carlos' friends, she found out from a friend who told her and showed her what they were saying about her. She called her boyfriend and questioned him for having spread the images that she had sent him with love, he denied everything and ended up telling her: "You're crazy. We'd better leave it at that, you prudes piss me off".
Paula didn't stop crying for days, she felt fear, anger, shame and disgust. At one point she thought about hurting herself if her parents found out. She decided not to do anything legal because "who is going to pay attention to me, there are many who do the same thing, no way, I won't do it again," she told Peninsula 360 Press in an interview.
Paula's case is becoming more and more common, the same has happened to some of her friends, she tells us. However, there are also some girls who seek to be part of this movement which they call "FedEx" or "Zelda", the first name refers to the delivery of parcels or in this case, to send the "pack", while the second name evokes the video game where Link is the main character, and with it they refer to passing a link to download images of a sexual nature.
The case of Jorge "N" was different, he was 17 years old when everything happened, he is gay, but his parents didn't know it until one of his cousins showed them an internet page where videos of him masturbating appeared. His parents questioned him about it, Jorge got up the courage and told them everything.
Miguel was a guy she met on a social network called Grinder, it all started in March and by April they were already boyfriend and girlfriend, they talked about everything, but things quickly escalated to a sexual dialogue.
Until before the pandemic they saw each other several times, after the confinement everything went virtual, through WhatsApp, Miguel demanded more and more "material" to move forward in the relationship, but the insistence led Jorge to get tired and end the relationship.
Miguel got upset and told Jorge that if the relationship didn't continue everyone would find out about his private life. And that's what he did. He uploaded the videos and pictures to a pornography site, which Jorge could no longer do anything about.
"I fell in love. I really liked him, I liked him, I fell in love, and I swear I never thought about what I would do with my videos. I was scared to death that people I know who didn't know I was gay would find out. The good thing was that my parents understood the situation and supported me, but I never heard from him again, he didn't answer my messages or call me back. It's all over. You have to be careful," she said.
At some point Jorge thought about denouncing him, however, he did not do so because of the stigmas that exist for people from the LGBTTTIQ+ community. "They don't get us down as whores, and they think we even like to be exposed. The police don't know how to act with us and they are macho".
According to the academic, activist and "hackfeminist" Irene Soria Guzman, it is very feasible to lose the notion that the internet is a space that everyone builds, however, the use of social networks and messaging platforms, this place becomes private and has specific rules that often do not protect the user, and to a greater extent to women.
"The Internet is not the public square, and although it may seem like it is, it is not, ?young people? are having sex affectively under the rules of these applications," said the specialist.
In an interview, she noted that sometimes young men share their intimate photographs as a form of belonging or as a proof of affection, while their male peers abuse that trust and share their images.
She added that men have also been taught that they have the right to appropriate women's bodies, and that only they can enjoy such photographs.
"Most of the cases of distributing or disseminating photographs without consent are done by men," she said. "Girls share these pictures a lot of times feeling pressured or feeling that with this they're going to gain some validation in a group or what they're going to be a part of something, and these young men take advantage. It comes from a patriarchal upbringing."
And for most men, sharing sexually explicit photographs is like sharing achievements and treasures that they got after violating the trust of young women, "they simply see it as community outreach," explained Irene Soria.
In turn, recalled that, after studies, it has been observed that young people are circulated photographs or videos of these women, use keywords in various messaging platforms, to avoid detection when requesting or sending images.
Given this, she said, "it is necessary to empower young women and girls, because they have every right to say no to requests, that they are not worth less for saying no, on the contrary, if they do not want, do not feel good and it is not something that satisfies them, they have the right to say no. We are not taught to set limits. They don't teach us to set limits".
"Empower yourself, empower your body, it's yours, it's your rules. What you want to happen is going to happen and no one has to pressure you to do absolutely anything, that includes getting waxed, wearing a skirt or not wearing makeup. You are worth for who you are," she stressed.
"Young people need to know that just as they have the right to set boundaries in the physical, they also have to set boundaries in the virtual," he added.
And although the discovery of sexuality is something very normal, it is important to keep in mind that there are methods and tools that can help and facilitate virtual interaction with a sexual nature.
There are messaging platforms like Telegram or Signal that allow self-destruction of photos and videos, plus the person who is sharing these images, can have control over how long they want them to be seen.
At the same time, these platforms allow for encrypted messaging, and secret so that neither party can take screenshots, and alerts the other participant if the other person has attempted any action to obtain the information that is recorded there.
To this, Irene added that it is essential that when taking a photo or video, do not show your face, tattoos or particular signs with which you can prove that person is the one who issued the images.
There are applications that also allow you to censor or distort certain parts of the image, so that they are not shown in their entirety.
In addition, it is necessary that, if the images were taken with a mobile phone or tablet, the devices have security passwords that allow them to protect their photos and videos, and the passwords should be changed from time to time to prevent someone from misusing them, Soria Guzman said.
Sexting and sexual behaviors
A comprehensive analysis of 23 studies of adolescent sexual behaviors, involving 41,723 participants, revealed that adolescent sexting is associated with a number of risk factors for young people, including multiple sexual partners, lack of contraceptive use, and mental health problems such as anxiety, behavioral depression, and substance use.
According to a study led by the University of Calgary and published in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics, there is a need for educational campaigns that raise awareness about digital health, safety and behavioral issues to help young people navigate their personal, social and sexual development in a digital world.
"Sexting has become the newest method of expressing sexual behavior in adolescents. It's common and it's on the rise," said Dr. Sheri Madigan, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Calgary, who was responsible for the study.
"Our previously published research suggests that one in four teenagers receive sexting messages and one in seven send them. We also know that most young people don't talk about it at home," she added.
The study further revealed that 49 percent of parents have no intention of talking to young people about their sexual health online or offline, "so, it's really the flip of a coin to know if young people are going to learn about safe, legal and ethical digital practices for their parents."
That's why sexting should be incorporated into schools' sex-ed curriculum, said Camille Mori, a master's student in Madigan's Determinants of Child Development Lab and lead author of the JAMA Pediatrics article.
"More than anything, this study is a call for more and better education," Mori says. "We need to have those conversations about consent. Not just in terms of sexual consent, but also around the distribution of images. What does consent mean in the digital age? What do you do when you receive messages? And what is your responsibility when someone shows you or forwards someone else's text message? We need to talk about the ethics and consequences of this on both sides," she said.
The 23 studies analyzed for the JAMA Pediatrics article included adolescents aged 12 to 17 years, and the studies were conducted between 2012 and 2018. The meta-analysis examined studies from around the world, most of them based in North America, but also from countries such as Nigeria, Korea, Australia, Peru and others.
Laws and sexting
It should be noted that in the case of California, when sexting is consensual and occurs between adults it is perfectly legal under state law, so if either party agrees to send nude videos, sexually explicit videos or flirtatious messages, there are no regulations against it.
However, there are several ways in which sexting becomes a criminal act and can result in significant charges.
On the one hand, sexting requires the consent of all persons involved. If one person does not consent to these messages, the other must immediately stop sending messages, photos, videos or audios, otherwise he or she may be accused of harassment.
Revenge Porn
In addition to spreading sexual messages or images without consent, sexting can also become illegal if one party shares private images or videos they received without the owner's consent.
This often occurs after a breakup, as a member may be angry and choose to leak their ex's nudes, but this is a clear violation of California's Revenge Porn Laws or the California Penal Code, and can result in up to six months in a county jail and a thousand dollar fine for a first offense.
In addition, a second offense can double the penalty and, if the case involves a minor, becomes a child pornography case, which can be charged as a misdemeanor or felony and may require the defendant to register as a sex offender.
Sexting between adults and minors is a crime
Any time an adult sends an inappropriate or sexual message, image or video to a minor, it is illegal and can result in several charges. If an adult sends a lewd message to a minor, it is a violation of the California Penal Code.
Also, if an adult receives a sexually explicit image or video of a minor and saves it, it would be a violation of the state's Revenge Porn Laws.
It should be noted that if an adult offers money to a minor in exchange for sexual activity, it may result in a charge of solicitation of a minor.
California law has very strict laws about interactions between adults and minors and will take any act of sexting with someone 17 or younger very seriously.
Even in cases where sexting occurred between two minors, if one of them is 16 or 17, he or she can be charged ?? in adult court rather than in juvenile court, however, it is possible for these cases to remain in juvenile court, which will have lighter punishments, but the defendant's parents should still seek an attorney to form a defense.
