0:00:02 > 0:00:06This programme contains some scenes of a sexual nature.
0:00:10 > 0:00:13Pornography is everywhere
0:00:13 > 0:00:16and with smartphones and tablets making it easier than ever to get hold of,
0:00:16 > 0:00:21there are fears that each generation is seeing porn earlier than the one before.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27So what's the impact of seeing so much pornography so young?
0:00:30 > 0:00:35To find out, we've carried out the biggest survey of its kind ever done in the UK.
0:00:36 > 0:00:41Over 1,000 people aged between 16 and 21 took part,
0:00:41 > 0:00:45answering questions on everything to do with porn.
0:00:45 > 0:00:48How old they were when they first saw it, how often they watch it now
0:00:48 > 0:00:52and how they think it affects what men and women expect from sex.
0:00:52 > 0:00:57Their answers were sent anonymously to a market research company.
0:00:59 > 0:01:03And then we got two of the country's leading experts on pornography and sexualisation
0:01:03 > 0:01:05to help us analyse the results.
0:01:06 > 0:01:09It was an opportunity to really go to a large number of young people
0:01:09 > 0:01:13in the UK, where there hasn't been a lot of research in the past,
0:01:13 > 0:01:17and really get them to tell us what they thought, what they felt.
0:01:20 > 0:01:23I also talked to young people across the country to get their views.
0:01:24 > 0:01:28It boosts confidence of men a lot more and makes them think,
0:01:28 > 0:01:33"Well, you know, it looks quite easy. I could do that."
0:01:33 > 0:01:37My brother, he's 13, and I wouldn't like the idea at all of him
0:01:37 > 0:01:41looking at porn and sexual things like that
0:01:41 > 0:01:43because I don't think it's real life.
0:01:43 > 0:01:48It's all an act and it's not really, sort of, sex.
0:01:48 > 0:01:52I think the first time people see porn they're probably around 12 or 13,
0:01:52 > 0:01:55like going into the first and second years of high school.
0:01:55 > 0:01:58Obviously secondary school is a big influence on the kids.
0:01:58 > 0:02:05Older kids around the younger kids have a big influence on what they see and stuff.
0:02:05 > 0:02:08I think the age where you start high school, 11 or 12,
0:02:08 > 0:02:11because you hang around with different people,
0:02:11 > 0:02:15they're doing different things and they might have watched porn
0:02:15 > 0:02:18and that's made you want to watch it.
0:02:26 > 0:02:29Our survey asked young people why they look for porn.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33Perhaps not surprisingly, the most common reason given was that
0:02:33 > 0:02:35men and women use it for sexual stimulation.
0:02:38 > 0:02:42However, around 10% of the 1,000 young people said
0:02:42 > 0:02:44that while men look at porn for sexual pleasure,
0:02:44 > 0:02:48young women do it in order to learn about sex.
0:02:48 > 0:02:53As one young woman put it, women for education, men for arousal.
0:02:54 > 0:02:58And that worries me because if porn is being used as sex education,
0:02:58 > 0:03:02how much of it is a true reflection of what sex is really like?
0:03:05 > 0:03:08I talked to young people from a school in south London
0:03:08 > 0:03:12where they discuss pornography in workshops about sex and relationships.
0:03:13 > 0:03:15When young people watch pornography,
0:03:15 > 0:03:19do you think young people feel pressured?
0:03:19 > 0:03:23The girls watching it might think they need to act like that
0:03:23 > 0:03:26- and the same for the boys. - How do girls act in porn?
0:03:26 > 0:03:30- Like they're liking it. - They put it on a little bit, I think.- A little bit?
0:03:30 > 0:03:31Quite a lot, I think.
0:03:31 > 0:03:35Do you think it means that young people have different expectations of what sex is going to be like?
0:03:35 > 0:03:39Yeah, because I think young people will see it and think they can treat a woman that way
0:03:39 > 0:03:41and it's not right to treat a woman that way.
0:03:41 > 0:03:43Porn videos last long, innit?
0:03:43 > 0:03:48If you have sex for the first time, you're not going to last 25 minutes, are you?
0:03:48 > 0:03:52- No.- More like ten. Maybe.- Seconds!
0:03:52 > 0:03:54THEY LAUGH
0:03:58 > 0:04:02Our nationwide survey also showed that when young people see porn online,
0:04:02 > 0:04:05they haven't always deliberately sought it out.
0:04:09 > 0:04:11Of the hundreds of young people who took part,
0:04:11 > 0:04:16only 22% were looking for it on purpose the first time they saw porn online.
0:04:16 > 0:04:20The rest saw it accidentally or were shown it by someone else.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24And in their day-to-day lives, young people continue to be
0:04:24 > 0:04:26bombarded with these pornographic images.
0:04:26 > 0:04:29Nearly a quarter said they see porn online
0:04:29 > 0:04:32when they don't expect to at least once a week.
0:04:32 > 0:04:34Some of the most commonly reported ways
0:04:34 > 0:04:38were when they were searching for something else online. Someone said,
0:04:38 > 0:04:42"I click on a game or a website that says it's something else, but then it's porn."
0:04:42 > 0:04:43So there's no escaping it.
0:04:45 > 0:04:49I was on a laptop and it was a pop-up.
0:04:49 > 0:04:54I thought I'd follow the link to see where it would take me
0:04:54 > 0:04:57and it took me to a site where you could watch free pornography.
0:05:00 > 0:05:02It makes you feel a bit embarrassed
0:05:02 > 0:05:06because I don't want to look at stuff like that.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09To other people it will be as if they have to click on it
0:05:09 > 0:05:12because it's come up on their Facebook and stuff
0:05:12 > 0:05:14so they want to check out what it is
0:05:14 > 0:05:19but to me it makes me feel a bit awkward because I don't really want to.
0:05:30 > 0:05:32Politicians and parents often worry about the effect
0:05:32 > 0:05:35that viewing pornography might have on young people.
0:05:37 > 0:05:39In our survey of 1,000 16 to 21-year-olds,
0:05:39 > 0:05:42we discovered there's a big difference in the views
0:05:42 > 0:05:45and experiences of young men and young women.
0:05:45 > 0:05:49There are clear gender differences in how young people first see pornography,
0:05:49 > 0:05:51how they feel when they first see it,
0:05:51 > 0:05:53why they look for it, how often they look for it,
0:05:53 > 0:05:56and how it effects what they expect from sex.
0:05:57 > 0:06:02In our survey, 30% of the boys said the first time they saw porn online,
0:06:02 > 0:06:06they'd looked for it on purpose, compared to just 12% of girls.
0:06:07 > 0:06:09And nearly 20% of the girls told us
0:06:09 > 0:06:15they had never seen porn online compared to 4% of the boys.
0:06:15 > 0:06:18And those differences between girls and boys persist.
0:06:18 > 0:06:21So a quarter of young men say they go looking for porn
0:06:21 > 0:06:24all the time, so every couple of days.
0:06:24 > 0:06:28A quarter of young men say they look for porn some of the time, so at least once a week.
0:06:28 > 0:06:33And 50% of women say they never go looking for online pornography.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41It seems one reason for that could be
0:06:41 > 0:06:44that young women don't like what they see in porn.
0:06:44 > 0:06:48In our survey, 229 of our 1,000 young people
0:06:48 > 0:06:52told us there is nothing good about porn.
0:06:52 > 0:06:55Almost three quarters of them were women.
0:06:57 > 0:07:00Why do you think girls watch pornography?
0:07:00 > 0:07:03Do you think it's the same reason as why boys do?
0:07:03 > 0:07:06- It's hard to see girls watching porn, man.- How come?
0:07:06 > 0:07:12Normally stereotypically you associate porn with boys.
0:07:12 > 0:07:15I've watched porn with a girl and it just made it awkward.
0:07:15 > 0:07:20- She didn't want to talk about it or nothing.- Really?- Yeah.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23- Do you think it's good for girls to watch porn or not good?- No.
0:07:23 > 0:07:29- Why not?- Most girls find it disgusting. Like, "Ugh, porn, man."
0:07:30 > 0:07:35I'm not saying it's bad to watch it if you're a girl anyway, but I don't know anyone that does.
0:07:37 > 0:07:39I don't want to sound sexist
0:07:39 > 0:07:42but I think it's more of a boy thing than a girl thing.
0:07:44 > 0:07:47I think boys would watch it more than girls
0:07:47 > 0:07:52because girls often think it's kind of gross and boys...
0:07:52 > 0:07:54I don't know.
0:07:54 > 0:07:56They just enjoy it more, I guess.
0:07:59 > 0:08:03One of the most worrying results from our survey was when we asked the question
0:08:03 > 0:08:07do you think pornography affects what young people expect from sex?
0:08:09 > 0:08:14Nearly 75% said young men's expectations of sex are affected by porn,
0:08:14 > 0:08:18while 53% said young women's expectations of sex are affected.
0:08:20 > 0:08:24We then went on to ask those who took part to tell us how.
0:08:25 > 0:08:29The most common answer that we got back was that young men
0:08:29 > 0:08:32expect women to behave like sex objects
0:08:32 > 0:08:35and young women expect to be treated like sex objects.
0:08:35 > 0:08:38So we have this wealth of quotes from young people.
0:08:38 > 0:08:41I picked out a few that I thought were quite poignant.
0:08:41 > 0:08:43A 19-year-old young woman said,
0:08:43 > 0:08:48"Because I think porn is so easily obtainable and the fact that more boys than girls watch it,
0:08:48 > 0:08:50"that men expect girls to be like the women in porn."
0:08:50 > 0:08:53Which I can see is completely true.
0:08:53 > 0:08:56A 17-year-old boy said guys would expect the chance for rougher sex
0:08:56 > 0:08:59or for a girl to be very flexible etc.
0:08:59 > 0:09:04A 16-year-old girl said, "Boys think all girls will behave like the girls in porn
0:09:04 > 0:09:08"and that quite a lot of the extreme stuff is totally normal.
0:09:10 > 0:09:15Do you young ladies feel like there's a pressure among girls
0:09:15 > 0:09:17to maybe behave like the porn starlets?
0:09:17 > 0:09:22If we started behaving like a porn star we'd get called slut.
0:09:22 > 0:09:25But if the boys do it...
0:09:26 > 0:09:28- It's true!- It is true.
0:09:28 > 0:09:30When girls go around having sex with boys,
0:09:30 > 0:09:34the boys call her a slag but when a boy...
0:09:34 > 0:09:36It's like an achievement.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40- They'll be like...- It's just boys. But with a girl it's not good.
0:09:40 > 0:09:45- Do you think that promotes young people using that language about women?- Yeah, it does.
0:09:45 > 0:09:48- Do you agree with it? - Depends what they've done, innit?
0:09:48 > 0:09:50If you just hear about a girl sleeping with loads of boys,
0:09:50 > 0:09:53you're not going to be attracted to her, are you?
0:09:53 > 0:09:57I think some boys, the way they speak about girls sometimes,
0:09:57 > 0:10:01they forget that when they're older, would they want boys to speak about their daughter like that?
0:10:01 > 0:10:04That's true. I started to think about that recently as well.
0:10:04 > 0:10:09Would I like it if another boy was talking about my sister like that or doing things with my sister?
0:10:11 > 0:10:15It's hard to gauge what harm is done when people watch pornography at a young age.
0:10:17 > 0:10:22But many experts believe that pornography can play a role in abuse and violent crime.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25We do know from the work we deal with at Rape Crisis
0:10:25 > 0:10:28that a lot of women who have survived sexual violence,
0:10:28 > 0:10:30whether that be rape or childhood sexual abuse,
0:10:30 > 0:10:34that pornography has been used as part of that abuse.
0:10:34 > 0:10:39Pornography helps to create this normalisation around violence against women and girls
0:10:39 > 0:10:45and creating attitudes which support violence against women and girls and that's what we hear a lot of.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51In a recent major European survey, one in three women
0:10:51 > 0:10:57said they had experienced some sort of physical or sexual abuse since the age of 15.
0:10:57 > 0:11:03Many experts believe that porn helps to shape the attitudes of men who carry out this kind of abuse.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14Sally is in her early 20s.
0:11:14 > 0:11:18She says she was raped by someone she thought was a friend.
0:11:20 > 0:11:23She was drunk at the time and was slipping in and out of consciousness.
0:11:23 > 0:11:28She's convinced pornography played a part in the attack.
0:11:28 > 0:11:31I actually came across a blog that they had
0:11:31 > 0:11:35and it was mostly made up of pornographic images
0:11:35 > 0:11:39and that made it quite clear to me how his mind worked
0:11:39 > 0:11:43and the opinion that he had of women,
0:11:43 > 0:11:48that they just existed to be used in porn.
0:11:48 > 0:11:53It just made me realise that for certain people that do these things,
0:11:53 > 0:11:58it's just so ingrained in their mind that that's OK.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00- You mean rape?- Yes.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03Sally didn't report the rape to the police
0:12:03 > 0:12:05because she didn't think she'd be believed
0:12:05 > 0:12:09but she did support seek support from Rape Crisis.
0:12:10 > 0:12:14What nature of pornography was on his blog?
0:12:14 > 0:12:16It was mostly soft porn
0:12:16 > 0:12:21but there were other images that were quite graphic
0:12:21 > 0:12:26and a lot of them revolved around women being used and being abused.
0:12:26 > 0:12:30Women having no control over what was going on.
0:12:30 > 0:12:34So do you think that had an influence on what he did to you?
0:12:34 > 0:12:38Yeah, because I feel as though seeing that made it clear to me
0:12:38 > 0:12:40that was what he was interested in
0:12:40 > 0:12:44and he thought that that was completely normal
0:12:44 > 0:12:49and for him to just think that I was an object that he could use
0:12:49 > 0:12:52seemed so similar to the images that I saw.
0:13:04 > 0:13:09In our nationwide survey of 1,000 young people aged 16 to 21,
0:13:09 > 0:13:12we asked how porn affects what young men expect from sex.
0:13:15 > 0:13:17One of the top three most common responses
0:13:17 > 0:13:21was that boys expect girls' bodies to look like they do in pornography
0:13:21 > 0:13:24with no pubic hair and with large breasts.
0:13:24 > 0:13:29An 18-year-old boy said that they want skinny women with big boobs.
0:13:29 > 0:13:33A 16-year-old boy said that boys expect girls to have
0:13:33 > 0:13:36a perfect shaved vagina like porn stars.
0:13:36 > 0:13:39That's quite a lot of pressure for young women.
0:13:39 > 0:13:43We want you to be able to make informed decisions so that you're safe.
0:13:43 > 0:13:48That's something that Leila from the Limes College in South London knows only too well.
0:13:49 > 0:13:53A lot of the students that come here have got low self-esteem,
0:13:53 > 0:13:55especially about their body image.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58They watch pornography and they see women with breast implants,
0:13:58 > 0:14:03women that are very slim, women with hair extensions, women with fake tan.
0:14:03 > 0:14:08A lot of our girls here, for example, will go on diets,
0:14:08 > 0:14:12they'll go on sunbeds, they'll lose weight very quickly
0:14:12 > 0:14:15because they think it's a way of gaining attention
0:14:15 > 0:14:19and they think it's a way of making themselves feel good.
0:14:20 > 0:14:24There are often reports in the media linking porn to a dramatic increase
0:14:24 > 0:14:26in the number of women asking for labiaplasties,
0:14:26 > 0:14:31which is a cosmetic procedure where the inner labia or vaginal lips are reduced.
0:14:33 > 0:14:37And what's worse, gynaecologists like Dr Gail Busby
0:14:37 > 0:14:41say more and more young girls are now requesting this procedure.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44If a girl comes into my clinic requesting this,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47I have a very long consultation with her and explain that she's still
0:14:47 > 0:14:52developing and I explain the range of normal, that's the other thing. And that what she's seen,
0:14:52 > 0:14:56if she says she's seen it in a television programme or in the media,
0:14:56 > 0:15:01it is not necessarily an accurate representation of the vast population.
0:15:01 > 0:15:05So we strongly believe, myself and my colleagues,
0:15:05 > 0:15:09that education is the answer from a fairly young age
0:15:09 > 0:15:13to prevent girls from developing this concept that they are abnormal
0:15:13 > 0:15:16when in fact they are absolutely normal.
0:15:18 > 0:15:23We've invited a group of teenage girls to take part in a workshop with Dr Busby.
0:15:23 > 0:15:28- Do we know what the correct name for your down-below bits is?- Vagina.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30Vagina? Anyone else?
0:15:30 > 0:15:34The vagina is actually the bit that's inside that you can't see.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37The bit on the outside that you can see is called the vulva.
0:15:40 > 0:15:44Dr Busby is going to use a sculpture called 57 Women
0:15:44 > 0:15:48from the Great Wall Of Vagina series by artist Jamie McCartney.
0:15:48 > 0:15:52He made plaster casts to show the wide range of normal vaginas or vulvas.
0:15:52 > 0:15:56Although they look very different, they are all normal
0:15:56 > 0:15:58and none of them need surgery.
0:15:58 > 0:16:02So these are all actual vulvas from actual women.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06Although dozens of girls under 18 ask Dr Busby for labiaplasty
0:16:06 > 0:16:11because they think they are abnormal, none of them has needed surgery.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14- Is it really common?- Yes, it's common and getting more common.
0:16:14 > 0:16:17It's definitely noticeable and getting younger and younger as well.
0:16:17 > 0:16:20Really? So what's the youngest age that you would have a girl
0:16:20 > 0:16:23worrying about the size and shape and wanting to alter it?
0:16:23 > 0:16:27The youngest, somewhere between 12 and 14.
0:16:27 > 0:16:31In my clinics I see many girls your age who come along
0:16:31 > 0:16:34asking me to operate and remove bits of their vulvas.
0:16:34 > 0:16:40And do you think that would be a good idea in a 15 or 16-year-old? No?
0:16:40 > 0:16:42Why do you not think it would be a good idea?
0:16:42 > 0:16:45- It could change by the time they grow up.- That's exactly it.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49That growth and development keeps going on until adulthood,
0:16:49 > 0:16:52so if they had an operation when they were 16,
0:16:52 > 0:16:56it may grow again and they'd need another or another.
0:16:56 > 0:16:58These women don't need surgery because there's nothing wrong with them.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13Sending a naked or semi-naked photograph of yourself to someone
0:17:13 > 0:17:17you are in a relationship with, might seem like an OK thing to do.
0:17:17 > 0:17:19The trouble starts
0:17:19 > 0:17:23when explicit photographs or videos taken on phones are passed around
0:17:23 > 0:17:26or posted on a social media website
0:17:26 > 0:17:28like Facebook or Twitter.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35- Hi.- Hi.
0:17:35 > 0:17:38These students are ambassadors for a project in Manchester
0:17:38 > 0:17:41which aims to warn schoolchildren about the dangers of sexting.
0:17:42 > 0:17:45People are becoming more used to seeing, like,
0:17:45 > 0:17:47indecent images of people.
0:17:47 > 0:17:49They therefore think its OK for them
0:17:49 > 0:17:51to take a half-naked photo of themself.
0:17:51 > 0:17:53And boys are getting a high expectation of women
0:17:53 > 0:17:56and what they think they should be doing, what they should look like,
0:17:56 > 0:17:57then asking for that off girls.
0:17:57 > 0:18:00Then girls feel like they need to live up to this standard.
0:18:00 > 0:18:04Then that's when, they maybe start sending things round.
0:18:04 > 0:18:08Obviously, since the emergence of Snapchat, things have become a LOT worse.
0:18:08 > 0:18:12Because people send them and think it's like only for a couple of seconds,
0:18:12 > 0:18:14but then you can screen-shot it,
0:18:14 > 0:18:16you can replay it, and then it just reappears.
0:18:16 > 0:18:20People will save it, send it, Facebook, Twitter...
0:18:20 > 0:18:22Like, before the end of the night if you send it, say, at 7pm -
0:18:22 > 0:18:258pm it could be everywhere.
0:18:25 > 0:18:27In cases we know in two days it's travelled from,
0:18:27 > 0:18:30like, another part of the country into our area and...
0:18:30 > 0:18:32like, we've seen these images and we're, like,
0:18:32 > 0:18:34"Oh, we used to know them. We knew them."
0:18:34 > 0:18:35Oh, my word!
0:18:35 > 0:18:38Why do you think no-one talks about this at school?
0:18:38 > 0:18:41Adults sometimes try to ignore it a little bit.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43Thinking it doesn't really happen.
0:18:43 > 0:18:44Especially teachers who work in schools -
0:18:44 > 0:18:48I mean, they're not stupid, they see that sort of thing going on every day.
0:18:48 > 0:18:50Bullying between people...
0:18:50 > 0:18:53But, I just think, because it's a quite sensitive issue,
0:18:53 > 0:18:56and it's quite a new issue, as well, they just kind of try to ignore it.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02Nationally, there's been very little research into
0:19:02 > 0:19:05how many young people are sending and receiving sexual images.
0:19:05 > 0:19:07But in Manchester,
0:19:07 > 0:19:10the advice service Brooke and the Healthy Schools team,
0:19:10 > 0:19:13questioned 500 children about sexting.
0:19:13 > 0:19:16We found that about 66% of young people researched
0:19:16 > 0:19:18had received an image,
0:19:18 > 0:19:20and 22% had sent an image.
0:19:20 > 0:19:23And 45% of young people researched,
0:19:23 > 0:19:25knew someone who'd been bullied as a result of it.
0:19:25 > 0:19:27Which is the worrying thing.
0:19:27 > 0:19:29So, it's not everybody who's doing it,
0:19:29 > 0:19:31there are a number of young people who ARE doing it,
0:19:31 > 0:19:33but it seems among those who do do it,
0:19:33 > 0:19:35it can get out of hand quite quickly.
0:19:35 > 0:19:37How bad does the attention get, and your experience?
0:19:37 > 0:19:41We've had young people who've had suicidal thoughts, self-harm,
0:19:41 > 0:19:43bullying, had to move schools...
0:19:43 > 0:19:44The whole spectrum, really.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59Sophia is a 20-year-old student from Blackpool.
0:19:59 > 0:20:02When she was 14, a boy she was seeing persuaded her
0:20:02 > 0:20:04to text him a naked photo of herself.
0:20:07 > 0:20:10We were texting and got a bit rude and I reciprocated,
0:20:10 > 0:20:13and then he asked me for, basically, a naked image of myself.
0:20:13 > 0:20:15And you're 14 years old - what was your reaction?
0:20:15 > 0:20:18Well, initially I was quite reluctant to send anything.
0:20:18 > 0:20:21I played it quite coy. "Oh, no, I don't want to do that!"
0:20:21 > 0:20:25I was quite shy with it, but because he was so consistent with asking,
0:20:25 > 0:20:27I eventually gave in.
0:20:27 > 0:20:28So what did he do with the image?
0:20:28 > 0:20:30He showed his friends, first,
0:20:30 > 0:20:32and they said, "Oh, will you send me that image?"
0:20:32 > 0:20:34And he was, like, "Yeah, sure, why not?"
0:20:34 > 0:20:36And then what happened?
0:20:36 > 0:20:39They sent it onto their friends, and so forth and so forth...
0:20:39 > 0:20:40I sent it him on the weekend,
0:20:40 > 0:20:42and then I'd say by Wednesday,
0:20:42 > 0:20:44all the local schools had it.
0:20:44 > 0:20:48How did you feel? I mean, everybody has got a picture of you naked.
0:20:48 > 0:20:49You're 14 years old.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51I felt completely stripped of my value.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53I felt like I was completely accessible.
0:20:53 > 0:20:55It's like they... It's like...
0:20:55 > 0:20:59It felt as though people were having intimate relationships with me,
0:20:59 > 0:21:01that I wasn't even engaged with.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03Because they'd seen me in that light.
0:21:03 > 0:21:05Were people mean, at all? Were they cruel?
0:21:05 > 0:21:09- Girls were mean. Girls were awful. - What happened?
0:21:09 > 0:21:11In the street, they'd be like, "Oh, that's so-and-so,
0:21:11 > 0:21:14"that Sophia girl - she sent that naked picture."
0:21:14 > 0:21:18They'd call me a slag, they'd call me a slut, camera-whore...
0:21:18 > 0:21:19How did it play out?
0:21:19 > 0:21:21I'd say for a good year-and-a-half,
0:21:21 > 0:21:26people still associated me with the girl that did that at that school.
0:21:26 > 0:21:28- A year-and-a-half?! - Yeah. Yeah.
0:21:28 > 0:21:31- That's insane! - Yeah. No, they did.
0:21:31 > 0:21:33Why do you think young girls still do it?
0:21:33 > 0:21:36To be desired is to feel empowered.
0:21:36 > 0:21:38I think that's what I felt when I was younger.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41I thought, "This person wants me, therefore I'm sending out this image,
0:21:41 > 0:21:45"therefore I am empowered as a female because I am desired."
0:21:45 > 0:21:47When, in fact, it is weakening your image.
0:21:47 > 0:21:50As soon as something becomes accessible, it loses value.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52If everyone's got it, nobody wants it any more.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55And you feel somewhat worthless.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59But being talked about and bullied is not necessarily the worst thing
0:21:59 > 0:22:01that can happen if someone under 18
0:22:01 > 0:22:04sends or posts an explicit image of themselves.
0:22:04 > 0:22:07For starters, they could be arrested and charged.
0:22:10 > 0:22:12Because what they're doing is classed as
0:22:12 > 0:22:14generating and distributing a child-abuse image.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17And anyone else who resends or reposts that image,
0:22:17 > 0:22:19could also be prosecuted.
0:22:20 > 0:22:24So what kind of trouble can you get in for posting a picture
0:22:24 > 0:22:26of someone under 18 naked?
0:22:26 > 0:22:28You could be put on the sex-offender register.
0:22:28 > 0:22:32- What is that?- It's, like, for paedophiles, and people like that.
0:22:32 > 0:22:34And it stays with you for your whole life
0:22:34 > 0:22:36and can hinder you getting a job.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39You can never work with children your entire life.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42Studies have found that young people across the UK
0:22:42 > 0:22:45are unaware of the legal implications of sexting.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49But police in Devon, along with other forces in England,
0:22:49 > 0:22:51are going into schools to try and change that
0:22:51 > 0:22:53by showing a video and discussing the risks.
0:22:55 > 0:22:58"I wanted to show how much I liked him."
0:22:58 > 0:23:00"I wanted to do it."
0:23:00 > 0:23:04# Why don't you take a picture of me...? #
0:23:08 > 0:23:11Thinking about that film,
0:23:11 > 0:23:13do you think any laws were broken in the film?
0:23:13 > 0:23:16I think that she broke the law by sending them,
0:23:16 > 0:23:19her boyfriend broke the law by keeping them and sending them on,
0:23:19 > 0:23:21and then everyone kind of broke the law
0:23:21 > 0:23:24by looking at them and keeping them on their phones and...
0:23:24 > 0:23:27sending them around, and setting up a page and stuff.
0:23:27 > 0:23:29OK.
0:23:29 > 0:23:31'We've certainly found that since completing the presentations
0:23:31 > 0:23:33'in a number of schools now,
0:23:33 > 0:23:36'it is clear that young people have, unfortunately,
0:23:36 > 0:23:39'fallen foul of having sent an image to another.
0:23:39 > 0:23:42So, we're certainly seeing an increase.
0:23:42 > 0:23:44It does appear to be almost perceived as
0:23:44 > 0:23:47a normal part of a relationship,
0:23:47 > 0:23:50so unfortunately, it does appear to be quite an up-and-coming issue
0:23:50 > 0:23:52that we're facing now.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55I'm not going to tell you not to share information online,
0:23:55 > 0:23:58because that's your choice to do that. The most important...
0:23:58 > 0:24:01The police will normally take a softer line the first time
0:24:01 > 0:24:03a young person is caught sexting
0:24:03 > 0:24:06or posting sexual images of themselves or another under 18.
0:24:09 > 0:24:11The way that we would deal with that situation,
0:24:11 > 0:24:15is to speak to the young person and almost treat them as a victim,
0:24:15 > 0:24:17because actually they have made a mistake -
0:24:17 > 0:24:19they didn't appreciate the consequences.
0:24:19 > 0:24:23However, if people then repeat the same behaviour,
0:24:23 > 0:24:27and clearly haven't listened to the advice they've been given,
0:24:27 > 0:24:30we will look at treating them a different way.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32'I'm not going back there.
0:24:32 > 0:24:34'It's not going to stop.'
0:24:34 > 0:24:37End of the day, you're responsible for what you post online,
0:24:37 > 0:24:39and what you comment on online,
0:24:39 > 0:24:41and that's what young people need to start exploring about.
0:24:41 > 0:24:44How are they going to respond appropriately to that.
0:24:56 > 0:24:58Any sexual image of someone under 18,
0:24:58 > 0:25:01counts as a child sexual abuse image -
0:25:01 > 0:25:04even if the person shown took the photograph or video themselves,
0:25:04 > 0:25:08and posted it on their own social networking page.
0:25:10 > 0:25:12Not only could the police be involved,
0:25:12 > 0:25:14but once that image is on the internet,
0:25:14 > 0:25:16it can be taken and used in a way
0:25:16 > 0:25:19that whoever posted it would never even think of.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28This is the headquarters of the internet Watch Foundation, or IWF.
0:25:29 > 0:25:32It's their job to identify and remove child sexual abuse images
0:25:32 > 0:25:34from the internet.
0:25:34 > 0:25:37Last year, their hotline received
0:25:37 > 0:25:4050,000 calls and e-mails
0:25:40 > 0:25:43tipping them off about child abuse images on the net.
0:25:43 > 0:25:46And analysts here are finding that more and more of those images
0:25:46 > 0:25:50are photographs and videos originally posted by young people
0:25:50 > 0:25:52on social networking sites.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54We've certainly seen a big rise
0:25:54 > 0:25:55in the last few years in the amount
0:25:55 > 0:25:57of self-generated content featuring young people.
0:25:57 > 0:26:00This would be an example of an adult website
0:26:00 > 0:26:02which accepts user-generated content.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05The reason everything is so pixilated, right now,
0:26:05 > 0:26:08is because we would be committing an offence
0:26:08 > 0:26:12- by looking at these images...- That's right.- ..and downloading them.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15These are images that have been taken from a Facebook profile,
0:26:15 > 0:26:17and you can see, it says here,
0:26:17 > 0:26:20"This is dedicated to self-shot amateur teams."
0:26:20 > 0:26:24Again another adult website with collections specifically of young teens.
0:26:24 > 0:26:28Several descriptions of the type of content you can expect to see there.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30So, anyone can go onto Facebook or Twitter
0:26:30 > 0:26:33and let's say someone doesn't have a protected account,
0:26:33 > 0:26:36they can just take that picture off and then they can put it anywhere.
0:26:36 > 0:26:39So where is the worst place that these photos can end up?
0:26:39 > 0:26:42We have seen, over the last couple of years,
0:26:42 > 0:26:45this content is starting to migrate onto
0:26:45 > 0:26:48the traditional commercial child sexual abuse sites, which are...
0:26:48 > 0:26:50- So they can be sold, the images? - ..run by criminals.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52And this content is now being sold commercially.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56This is a sanitised screen shot of an extremely prolific
0:26:56 > 0:26:59commercial child sex distribution website.
0:26:59 > 0:27:04It claims to have 723 webcam captures available for purchase.
0:27:04 > 0:27:08The youngest victim is between the age of three and six.
0:27:08 > 0:27:12The three-to-six year old would not have generated that themselves?
0:27:12 > 0:27:14Well, not generated by them,
0:27:14 > 0:27:17but there are other individuals in the room,
0:27:17 > 0:27:20who were assessed as being slightly older.
0:27:20 > 0:27:22Other children being involved...
0:27:22 > 0:27:24- They were all...- ..performing sex acts.- They were all children.
0:27:33 > 0:27:37I didn't expect to learn quite so much today.
0:27:37 > 0:27:40I knew what they did was so incredibly important,
0:27:40 > 0:27:41I knew it was very serious,
0:27:41 > 0:27:44but I don't think I realised how accessible
0:27:44 > 0:27:46such explicit material is.
0:27:46 > 0:27:48Also, I found it quite staggering
0:27:48 > 0:27:51to realise the consequence of something so simple as a sext.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54And realise how fast the process is.
0:27:54 > 0:27:56That it can literally just take over your life.
0:27:56 > 0:27:59If you are under 18, and an indecent photograph
0:27:59 > 0:28:02or video of you has been posted on the internet,
0:28:02 > 0:28:03the IWF can work with the police
0:28:03 > 0:28:07and international agencies to take it down.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09You should contact ChildLine,
0:28:09 > 0:28:13who would help you provide the information that the IWF needs.
0:28:20 > 0:28:23If you could give a message right now to a young teenager who,
0:28:23 > 0:28:25watching this right now, is about press send,
0:28:25 > 0:28:27on a picture of their private parts,
0:28:27 > 0:28:29what would you say?
0:28:29 > 0:28:30- Don't.- Don't.- Don't be crazy.
0:28:30 > 0:28:33- Would you still send it, if your mum could see it?- Yeah!
0:28:33 > 0:28:36THEY LAUGH
0:28:36 > 0:28:38Really strong. Really strong.
0:28:38 > 0:28:39Thank you so much.