Sexting can be exciting. It can be great fun, especially when you are in a long distance relationship. It can be used to keep the intimacy alive or simply a way to spice up your sex life.
In the past, sexting has been seen as a taboo, with nudes often being leaked of celebs and regular people alike. This is often a woman.
And in these cases it was the victim who was blamed through a misogynistic narrative of slut-shaming and embarrassment.
Luckily, times have been changing. We understand that sending nudes is often a way of foreplay and a valid form of intimacy.
Floozy loves the idea of spicing things up and no shame should be felt for consensual sexting. However, sending nudes can still become dangerous when precautions are not taken.
Sex educator Evie Plumb, founder of CliterallyTheBest, gave us the lowdown of sexting and sending nudes safely.
READ: Sex Therapist Explains How To Use Sex Toys Safely – Floozy
Keep your face out of images
Cropping any identifying features is wise to keep your identity safe.
“Any like identifiable tattoos as well, maybe if that’s possible. Even if you do, trust that person, you just don’t know what’s going to happen. And sadly, if you break up, people can be really nasty.”
Don’t share your personal details
Especially if it’s like someone especially on dating apps, you can be like sending news quite quickly if that’s what you’re down for, which is totally fine and there’s no shame in that, obviously make sure you and the other person of age. and that their consenting like definitely 100% against the whole dick pick without warning which is obviously illegal now but sadly still happens a lot and Yeah, don’t share things like what school or university went to your employment especially if they’re a new person.
Turn your location off
“That’s kind of just being safe online in general. Especially if you’re like social media is public and you have like location tagging on that can actually be quite a dangerous one.People can then use that location to harass them and potentially, obviously, these are quite extreme versions.”
Think about the platforms that you are using
In terms of platforms, whatsapp is encrypted by images, can be downloaded and saved. Facebook and Instagram are easily hackable, so they’re not super secure.
Snapchat has its own cloud feature.
“Although it doesn’t automatically download your images, it does notify you when someone takes a screenshot of that image. That is a really handy one, and I think that’s why a lot of needs shared on that platform.
“But especially with dating apps there are reporting policies,” Evie continued. “So if you look at them and you’ll send like an unsolicited nude, you can actually report to those dating apps which is good in terms of storage.”
Make sure you’re turning off your iCloud and automatically apply uploads and downloads because iClouds can be hacked as well. There it’s obviously a locked part of your camera roll. It’s good to keep them in there.
Being wary and always taking those precautions. Just in case, even if you think they are safe people.
What happens if my nudes are shared?
“You need to collect evidence. It’s shared publicly, screenshot because things can be changed. If they are shared between friends, see if you can get access to that and screenshot that. Everything’s got a digital footprint and it can be easy to take it that step further to the police.”
It is now illegal in the UK to share nudes of others without their consent.
“In terms of you want some support,” Evie continued.”Telling people that can be quite stressful and there’s a lot of shame on the victims.
The Revenge Porn Helpline provides help to what steps you would be able to take after you images have been leaked, including speaking to police.
“You can also do like a reverse image search on Google so you can see if your picture has been shared anywhere else,” said Evie. “You basically upload that photo and see if it’s anywhere on the Internet.
Remember that consensual sexting is not a crime
“You can also contact NotYourPorn, and they can signpost you to the right services and make sure you feel supported. The most important thing to remember, however, is that if your nudes do get leaked, it is not your fault.
“It’s not your fault at the end of the day and it is illegal,” said Evie.
You are the victim in this situation and do not be ashamed because someone broke your trust and shared your images without your consent.
Edited by Ramona Gabriela Toderascu
