Sexualistation of Young People

are already predisposed to violent
activity and who also score high for
pornography use are much more likely
to engage in sexual aggression. 52
37. There has been a marked increase
in the number of sites that infantilise
women. Adults exposed to ‘barely
legal’ or virtual child pornography
make stronger links between youth
and sexuality than adults exposed
to materials featuring older-looking
models. They are also more likely
to associate sex and sexuality with
subsequent non-sexual depictions of
minors. 53 When girls are dressed to
resemble adult women, people may
associate adult motives and even a
sense of adult responsibility onto the
child. Depicting young girls dressed
or made up as sexually mature older
women may serve to normalize
abusive practices such as child abuse
or sexual exploitation.
Child abuse and sexual
exploitation
38. Child sexual abuse lies at the
extreme end of the spectrum of
consequences of sexualisation. The
psychological effects of sexual abuse
52 Malamuth, Addison and Koss (2000)
53 Paul and Linz (2008)
can be devastating, ranging from
post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety
and depression, to sexual dysfunction,
suicide and self-mutilation. It affects a
significant number of children in the
UK – estimated at over 2 million –
although the vast majority of child
sexual abuse goes unreported. 54
The majority of those who display
sexually harmful behaviour are actually
adolescent males, with 25-40 per cent
of all alleged sexual abuse involving
young perpetrators. 55
39. An issue of concern is that the
sexualisation of girls is contributing to
a market for child abuse images (often
referred to as ‘child pornography’
in the media) or sex with children.
The fact that young girls are styling
themselves in overtly sexually
provocative ways for other young
people’s consumption – whether this
be on social networking sites or via
photographs sent by email or mobile
phones – makes them potentially
vulnerable. Young people themselves
are now producing and swapping what
is in effect ‘child pornography’ – a fact
borne out by the growing numbers of
adolescents that are being convicted
for possession of this material. 56
54 Cawson et al. (2000)
55 www.nspcc.org.uk/WhatWeDo/MediaCentre/
MediaBriefings/Policy/media_briefing_sexually_
harmful_behaviour_wda33252.html
56 Carr (2004)
Sexualisation of Young People Review
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