Safer Internet Day

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Young people are regularly confronted with sexual harassment on the internet.

(Bild: stock.adobe.com/Halfpoint)

"Sexual harassment online" is the focus of this year's Safer Internet Day on February 11. In Austria, 38 percent of 11 to 17-year-olds have already been confronted with it. 

This is the result of a study on the topic, which was presented in Vienna on Monday. Older teenagers and girls were most frequently affected by lewd comments in forums or requests for intimate pictures, explained Barbara Buchegger from Saferinternet.at.

The majority of such harassment occurred on social networks such as TikTok or Instagram (72 percent), according to those already affected. The 405 participants were also asked whether they had ever been harassed with intimate and sexual questions. "It was exclusively about questions that were perceived as unpleasant," explained Buchegger.

28 percent stated that they had already experienced something like this - the proportion of women (39 percent) was also higher here. The participants were also asked how they would react to online harassment. In response, there were statements such as "you just have to live with it, it's best to ignore it". On the one hand, such behavior could protect those affected, but this attitude could also be interpreted as resignation, according to the educational director of the EU initiative Saferinternet.at.

Need for prevention and education
The study revealed that there is a need for prevention and education. On the one hand, there is a lack of knowledge about the legal consequences of sending nude photos under Section 207a of the German Criminal Code ("sexual depictions of minors"). However, it is also important to take preventative action as early as possible, as 52% of respondents agreed that even elementary school children are affected by sexual harassment online - according to Buchegger, this is "a very clear mandate that this must also be a topic at elementary school".

On the subject of nude photos, a focus of this year's survey, it was also pointed out that sharing them is also part of self-determined sexuality for young people. However, the respondents were not always aware of the extent to which such images are sent voluntarily. 44% of the 55 respondents said yes, but 34% were not sure. And six percent of respondents also stated that they had already been secretly filmed in an intimate situation, for example during sex, on the toilet or while changing clothes.

Birgit Satke, head of Rat auf Draht, reported from her experience that bullying often occurs in connection with nude photos - and as a result, there is often no other option but to change schools.

Victims are getting younger and younger
"A particularly large number of counseling requests come from sextortion victims, especially male children and adolescents. They are also increasingly being blackmailed with AI-generated content. It is striking that those affected are getting younger and younger," said Satke, summarizing the trend.

However, the majority of young people also take action in the event of sexual harassment: "The frequency of unpleasant contacts that are reported is high at 74%," stated Stefan Ebenberger, Secretary General of Internet Service Providers Austria (ISPA).

On the negative side, however, reporting is often seen as unhelpful. And more than half of those surveyed (53%) would like more information on how they can protect themselves from sexual harassment online - and not from the Internet, but parents and schools were mentioned by far the most frequently.