Ofsted’s 2021 report found that around nine in 10 girls said sexual harassment, including being sent unwanted explicit pictures or videos, happened 'a lot' or 'sometimes'.
There’s no easy answer for what needs to change to stop this happening in the future: it’s a deep-rooted problem in our culture exacerbated by modern technology. Addressing this requires a multi-faceted approach, working across all sectors of society:
Children can currently easily access or be sent harmful and disturbing sexual content on their telephones. It’s clear that viewing this content not only has an impact on mental health but can also influence subsequent abusive behaviour.
Tech companies need to invest much more of their huge resources towards designing reliable child-friendly technology for mobile phones and apps that are guaranteed to be safe.
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