Home > Research > Publications & Outputs > Adolescents, sexting and human rights
View graph of relations

Adolescents, sexting and human rights

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

Published
<mark>Journal publication date</mark>2013
<mark>Journal</mark>Human Rights Law Review
Issue number4
Volume13
Publication StatusPublished
<mark>Original language</mark>English

Abstract

International law has led to many countries changing the definition of ‘child pornography’ to include adolescents above the age of consent but below the age of majority. At the same time, technological change has led to personal photographic devices (most notably the ubiquitous camera phone) becoming common-place and adolescents are participating in behaviour known as ‘sexting’. Whilst there are different versions of this behaviour, one form is where an adolescent freely takes a sexualised photograph of herself and sends it to another. Theoretically this could breach child pornography laws but it is argued here that it is an expression of the adolescent’s sexual identity and thus protected by Articles 8 and 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.