The impact of sexual image sharing extends beyond the digital exchange:
: Females are significantly more likely than males to receive coercive requests for images. For some, receiving unsolicited images (like "dick pics") has become a normalized, albeit often unwanted, dynamic in school and social settings.
: Roughly half of teens who send sexual images have experienced some form of "sextortion," such as threats or blackmail.
While some interactions are consensual, a large volume of image-sharing is driven by external pressure.
: Recent studies show that nearly 1 in 3 adolescents have received a sexual image, while approximately 1 in 4 have sent one.