Young people’s Experiences of Sexting and Online Sexual Victimization

Abstract

For today’s youth, using digital devices for social interaction is part of everyday life. This has also meant that internet and smartphones are used for sexual purposes, which carries both opportunities and risks for young people. In this chapter, we present a narrative overview of empirical work focusing on young people’s experiences of sexting and online sexual victimization. An important point of departure is that in order to fully understand young people’s online experiences, we need to learn more about the developmental underpinnings that render young people extra vulnerable when they engage in sexual activities through the digital landscape. The main part of the chapter is dedicated to research on online sexual abuse, outlining what is known about risk factors for being abused, different forms of online sexual abuse, and its consequences for victimized children/adolescents. An important lesson is that the adult world’s lacking insight into the online world of children and adolescents means that young people are left on their own to deal with online sexual encounters. Practical guidelines for the adult world and educational settings on how to address issues of sexuality, sexual interaction, and online sexual victimization are presented.