Sexting (Nudes)
Bare Facts by Mobile Phone
Sexting is a portmanteau of the terms ‘sex’ and ‘texting’. Sexting is a deliberate and consensual private exchange between two people of self-produced erotic (sexy) images via mobile messaging or the internet (emails) or of ‘sexy’ text messages (dirty talk).
It is not generally prohibited to create intimate photos or videos of yourself and share them with people who have given their consent.
The problem with sexting is that you never know who the pictures/vidoes you sent might be passed on to. Because once you have sent a nude photo/vidoe of yourself, you no longer have any control over the photo/video and unfortunately you can no longer undo this process. The recipient can copy the photo/video, publish it online and pass it on at will. When a nude photo/video is passed on like this it can be unpleasant and quite embarrassing and humiliating.
When sexting you also can expect legal consequences. This is because non-consensual forwarding is a violation of the right to one's own image (personal rights) and because producing, possessing and passing on photos or videos showing sexual acts, genitals or the buttocks of children, i.e. persons under 14, is, without exception, forbidden. This falls under the law against child pornography (§ 184 b StGB).
The production, possession and/or dissemination of photos or videos showing sexual acts, genitalia or buttocks is also prohibited for young people between the ages of 14 and 17 - this is referred to as youth pornography (Section 184 c StGB). Impunity in the case of sexting is only given for young people if
- everyone is over 14 years old
- everyone agrees to it and
- nothing is forwarded to other uninvolved persons.
Don't give sexting a chance, protect yourself and your friends. If you receive unsolicited photos or videos, do not forward them,
but delete them and protect yourself and everyone else, even if you may not even know the person.
Self Protection
Thinking about sending your partner* a nude photo/video? Then play it safe:
your head, personal features such as tattoos and the background should not be visible. And perhaps you agree that each of you will delete the nude photos/videos of the other after a break-up.