Online sexual harassment

Sexual harassment is a type of sexual abuse which includes any form of unwanted sexual behaviour. It can happen anywhere (online or offline) and to anyone, regardless of their age or gender.

Online sexual harassment is unwanted sexual contact that takes place on a digital device, and can include:

• Making sexual comments or jokes online or over text messages - this could be through memes or GIFs too
• Sharing nudes of another person without their consent
• Sending someone nudes they don’t want
• Someone pressuring another person to send sexual images or have sexual conversations when they don’t want to
• Sending someone pornography without their consent
• Sharing sexual rumours about someone online
• Taking sexual photos of someone without consent (also known as upskirting)
• Threatening to share sexual rumours or photos of someone

Take action if you see or hear about someone you know being targeted online:

• Report comments. Social media platforms should not allow sexual harassment in the form of comments, photos and videos. If anything sexual is said to embarrass or hurt a young person, get it removed from the website or app by reporting it.
• Speak to an adult. An adult you trust can help to report the incident(s) and stop it from happening again. If it’s happening between young people at school, a teacher should be able to step in and help. 
• Say something about sexual harassment. When communities, schools and friendship groups don’t speak out about the inappropriate and unwanted sexual comments people make, it can make these issues worse. Challenge sexual harassment by talking to others about how unacceptable these comments are, and how they can make people feel.

Online sexual harassment is not just “part of growing up” or “not that upsetting because it’s only online”.  

Personal impact. Anyone who has experienced online sexual harassment is likely to feel upset, judged and humiliated. They may be at increased risk of experiencing mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. This might affect their education and future job opportunities.

School and community impact. Online sexual harassment can lead to unsafe environments for young people. Viewing online sexual harassment as normal or just a joke means that other people might join in to “fit in” with friends. This is never okay. Challenging online sexual harassment will help to keep healthy and positive school and community spaces.