Girls under the age of 13 are facing growing pressure to send classmates nude pictures or videos, a new survey has revealed.
The survey of 5,000 teenagers was launched by Not Just Flirting in partnership with the PSHE Association.
It found that more than half of those aged between 14 of 18 had been sent a naked photo.
Girls under the age of 13 are facing growing pressure to send classmates nude pictures
Danny Lawson
The survey found that half of the 5,000 teenagers aged between 14 of 18 had been sent a naked photo
Dominic Lipinski
While 34 percent of girls asked said they had been asked to send a nude photo when they were aged 13 or younger.
The research also found that from disadvantaged backgrounds often have the most negative experiences.
Following its release, Damon de Ionno, managing director of research agency, Revealing Reality, who carried out the survey said: "Across these research projects, we have seen first-hand among research participants a huge growth in nude image-sharing among young people.
"Image-sharing itself was not the focus of these pieces of work.
"But we encountered more and more evidence that not only was it widespread, but it could have negative consequences – and that these seemed to fall disproportionately on particular groups, most notably girls from disadvantaged backgrounds.
"For this research we wanted to explore specifically whether, far from being a situation that disproportionately affected relatively privileged children, experiences of image-sharing may in fact be worse for more disadvantaged children.
"And that while in some cases nude image-sharing may be empowered or part of flirting, in many cases it can turn into or mask experiences or outcomes that are not just harmless fun."