The consensual exchange of intimate image content (sexting) is now part of the reality of life for many children and young people who are developing sexually and exploring their sexuality in the digital space. Sünje Andresen and Stephan Dreyer, together with two colleagues from the "Arbeitsgemeinschaft Kinder und Jugendschutz NRW" [working group on the protection of children and adolescents in North Rhine-Westphalia], write about the issues of "consensual sexting" involving young people under criminal law in the current issue of the journal "Kinder- und Jugendschutz in Wissenschaft und Praxis" [Child and Youth Protection in Science and Practice](KJuG).
Approximately 16 percent of minors are actively sexting. However, minors who engage in sexting can become the focus of law enforcement authorities because of their behaviour. The tightening of penalties under Section 184b of the German Criminal Code (StGB) has further intensified the criminalization of minors who engage in consensual sexting. In view of the relevance of such forms of communication for the development of minors and the restriction of their right to sexual self-determination, the authors see this as an infringement of their rights as guaranteed by the UNCRC.
Link to the article
Andresen, S.; Dreyer, S.; Huerkamp, D.; Knabenschuh, S.: (2023): Aktuelles Sexualstrafrecht als Kinderrechteverstoß? Zur strafrechtlichen Problematik konsensualen Sextings unter Beteiligung von jungen Menschen [Current Legislation on Sexual Offences as a Violation of Children's Rights? On the Criminal Law Problem of Consensual Sexting with the Participation of Young People]. In: Kinder- und Jugendschutz in Wissenschaft und Praxis (KJug) Issue 4/2023, pp. 163-171.
(Hamburg, 8 November 2023)
