What’s the harm? Gender and age differences in acceptance of cyberflashing, reporting intentions, and perceived prevalence

Cyberflashing occurs when people use technology to expose others to sexual imagery in a way that is unexpected, unsolicited, and unwanted. This may involve self-exposure (like the sending of ‘nudes’) or sending other types of pornographic material. This research discusses the results of a pilot survey (n = 85) which explored how public perceptions on cyberflashing in the United States compared to equivalent in-person acts. Respondents were presented with 15 scenarios depicting unsolicited and unwanted sexual exposure in a range of online and in-person contexts and asked how acceptable and/or common they believed that these behaviours were, as well as how likely they were to report these acts. The findings suggest a complex response to unwanted sexual exposure with variations in response based on the gender and age of the respondent. Notably, unwanted sexual exposure by a stranger online was seen as less acceptable than in-person exposure, especially among younger respondents, indicating the important role that fear plays on those affected. The study also addresses willingness to report incidences of unwanted sexual exposure, concluding that a minority of respondents would report any form of ‘flashing’—a finding with serious implications when it comes to developing effective responses to sexual violence.