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- In a survey of over 2,000 young people aged 13 to 18 years:\n
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- Almost half reported having sent a sexual picture or video of themselves to another party, while two-thirds had received a sexual image. <\/li>\n
- Sexting was prevalent among all age groups, with 13 to 15 year olds particularly likely to receive sexual images. <\/li>\n
- Sexting was prominent among homosexual and bisexual respondents. <\/li>\n
- Most sexting occurred between partners in committed relationships (Lee et al. 2015)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n
- In overseas research the gendered dynamics of sexting was found to occur in the context of a \u2018gendered double standard\u2019 (Dobson & Ringrose, 2013; Albury et al. 2015). Young women and girls generally have more to lose when \u2018consensual\u2019 sexting goes wrong, and are more likely to feel pressured or coerced into sending an image. <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Results <\/h2>\n
More than 1750 people responded to Relationships Australia\u2019s online survey in March 2017.\u00a0 Three-quarters (75%) of survey respondents identified as female, with more females than males responding in every age group (figure 1).\u00a0 Eighty-five per cent of survey respondents were aged between 20 to 59 years, while more than one-third (37%)\u00a0of respondents comprised women aged between 30 to 49 years (inclusive).<\/p>\n
As for previous surveys, the demographic profile of survey respondents remains consistent with our experience of the groups of people that are accessing the Relationships Australia website.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.relationships.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/Marchsurvey2017fig01.png\")
<\/p>\nA substantial majority of survey respondents reported that they were married (35%) or in a long-term relationship (28%).\u00a0 Fewer than one-quarter of respondents reported that they were not in a relationship (23%) and a small number of people reported that they were in a casual relationship (4%) or had just started seeing someone (4%).<\/p>\n
More than half of women (54%) and fewer than half of men (45%) reported that they had sent a sexually suggestive message, picture or video of themselves (figure 2).<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.relationships.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/Marchsurvey2017fig02.png\")
<\/p>\nThe main reason cited by both men and women for sending a sexually suggestive message, picture or video of themselves was to be fun or flirty (men 65%, women 58%), consistent with previous studies examining sexting behaviour.\u00a0 The second most common reason reported by men for sexting was because they had received one, while women were more likely to report that they had sexted as a \u2018sexy present\u2019.\u00a0 Women were more likely than men to report that they had sexted in the past to get or keep a person\u2019s attention (men 6%, women 7%) or because they were pressured to send it (men 1%, women 6%).<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.relationships.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/Marchsurvey2017fig03.png\")
<\/p>\nThirty per cent of women and twenty-six per cent of men reported having received a sexually suggestive message, picture or video from one person in the last three years (Figure 4).\u00a0 Fewer than one-fifth of survey respondents reported receiving a \u2018sext\u2019 from two to five people while just under half of survey respondents reported they had not received a sexually suggestive message, picture or video in the past three years.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.relationships.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/Marchsurvey2017fig04.png\")
<\/p>\nMen and women who were in a long term relationship were more likely to report (39%) that they had sent a sexually suggestive message, picture or video than married people (27%).\u00a0 Men and women in a casual relationship or who had just started seeing someone were more likely report they had sent a sexually suggestive message, picture or video than they had not sent a sexually suggestive message, picture or video (Figure 5)<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.relationships.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/Marchsurvey2017fig05.png\")
<\/p>\nReferences <\/h2>\n
Albury K, Crawford K, Byron P and Mathews B (2013). Young people and sexting in australia: Ethics, representation and the law. Sydney: ARC<\/p>\n