11 Jan 2018

Māori teens receive more nude images - study

6:05 pm on 11 January 2018

According to a recent Netsafe report, Māori teenagers receive more unsolicited naked images, or "sexting" than any other teenage ethnic group.

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Photo: snedorez/123RF

The report, published last month, was conducted over a five-week period with more than 1000 New Zealand teenagers aged between 14 and 17.

It showed 24 percent of Māori received unsolicited nude content compared to Pākehā and Pacific people at just 18 percent.

Digital advocate Karaitiana Taiuru independently reviewed the report and said while there was no research to indicate why Māori were the most common victims of "sexting", he believed more could be done to prevent it from happening.

"Netsafe do a fantastic job and have got the resources that cater to the majority of people, but from an outsiders perspective, I think they could do with a bit more specific Māori resources and training on how to deal with kaupapa Māori issues that happen online."

Mr Taiuru said more concentrated research on Māori online was also needed.

"I was absolutely shocked that Māori are essentially victims of sexting and I think there needs to be more concentrated research to assist Māori by researching how many Māori are actually being targeted by predators and abusers.

"Research needs to have a kaupapa Māori focus and that needs to be bilingual as well to cater to those children who are brought up in te ao Māori."

The Teens and Sexting Report found 4 percent of teenagers said they had sent a nude or nearly nude content of themselves in the last 12 months and about 20 percet had been asked to send a naked image.

It also found nearly a quarter of all girls surveyed, 24 percent, had been asked for nude images of themselves in the past 12 months, compared to boys at just 14 percent.

About half of those who had personally experienced or known someone involved in the sharing of nude content said this happened 'often or very often'.

Netsafe said the report was the first of its kind looking into teenagers and sexting in New Zealand.

It hoped to develop more research on the subject in the future.

The full report can be found here.