Explaining Image-Based Abuse in Schools: Why is it so Common?

What is image-based abuse and how common is it?

Image-based abuse (also known as image-based sexual abuse) is the non-consensual sharing, taking, or threatening to share intimate images or videos of a person. It can include receiving unsolicited images, being pressured to take them, or having AI-generated sexual images created non-consensually.

In the UK, unwanted sexual images aren’t rare. They’re routine. In 2021, Ofsted spoke to almost 1,000 pupils across England; 90% of girls said receiving unwanted explicit images was a regular occurrence.

So with increased awareness and this now part of the statutory curriculum, why is it still so common?

Research from Professor Jessica Ringrose at University College London reflects what we see every day: image-based abuse is about power and gender. It overwhelmingly affects girls and gender-diverse young people. They are far more likely than boys to receive unwanted sexual images and to feel pressured into sharing their own.

Without scapegoating, we have to ask: why are boys more likely to perpetrate this harm?

The research shows that boys are often socially rewarded for possessing or circulating sexual images of girls. Harmful ideas about masculinity are amplified online, reinforcing the expectation that being a “real man” means proving sexual experience. Non-consensual image sharing can become a way of performing that status, with devastating consequences for those whose images are shared.

Over half of young people who received unwanted sexual content did nothing, often because they believed reporting wouldn’t help, or they felt they’d be blamed as the victims. Very few spoke to parents, schools or platforms.

Young people also told researchers that education often fails to reflect their digital realities. Lessons on relationships don’t always address coercion, online pressure or the social consequences of speaking out.

When we ask young people why they don’t challenge misogyny in group chats or call out harmful behaviour, they tell us it’s about self-preservation. “You get called a simp if you treat women respectfully,” were the words a student used to explain this to me. Challenging harm can quickly make you a target, with homophobia frequently used as insults. 

How can schools prevent image-based abuse?

If we want to prevent image-based abuse, we have to tackle the root ideas about gender, power and status that sustain it. That means properly resourced, honest education, not silence, shame or bans.

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