For Your Eyes Only: an e-learning course for youth on sexting and sextortion

Key points

• The phenomenon of sexting, sextortion and the production of ‘self-generated’ intimate or sexual images of children has been on the rise not only in the Philippines, but globally.
• Even with limited studies in the Philippines on how the production of ‘self-generated’ intimate or sexual images of children impact the safety of children and youth, there is a common consensus amongst members of the child protection community that the issues need to be addressed in a sensitive and nuanced manner, considering the complexities of the issue.
• Stairway Foundation has developed, through consultations with youth, an e-learning course called For Your Eyes Only about sexting, sextortion and the non-consensual sharing of ‘self-generated’ intimate images of children/youth using an animated film and interactive lessons.

The problem

As early as 2012, Stairway Foundation recognised the phenomenon of ‘self-generated’ intimate or sexual images of children, with seven percent of respondents in a national survey of children and youth indicating that they have practiced sexting. In recent years, the issue has become more complicated as the practice of sharing naked/intimate images by and amongst children via sexting, has become interlinked with the non-consensual sharing of the same images, often being shared uncontrollably, victimising children in the process. In the 2022 Disrupting Harm Study of ECPAT Philippines, 13 percent of the internet-using children aged 12–17 who took part in the survey stated that someone had shared sexual images of them without their permission.

The solution

Considering the need to provide crucial, age-appropriate information on the issue of sexting, sextortion and non-consensual sharing of intimate/sexual images of children, Stairway Foundation developed the e-learning course called For Your Eyes Only in 2023.

For Your Eyes Only uses an animated film, together with an interactive lesson, to provide information about the different terms describing sexual and intimate imagery, risks of sharing sexual and intimate images, consequences and legislation around sharing sexual and intimate images, ways of coping if under pressure to share images and how to get help.

The e-learning course was developed based on Stairway’s many years of working on child online protection in the Philippines, engaging directly with both duty bearers and children/youth themselves. Targeted consultations with youth were undertaken to ensure that For Your Eyes Only would present information in a sensitive manner, considering the nuances surrounding the issue. The course is free to access.

The impact

To document the impact of “For Your Eyes Only” as an educational tool, a follow up survey was done with the high school students who participated in testing  the course during the Safer Internet Day celebration in 2023. This follow-up survey aimed to gauge if, after a year of taking the “For your Eyes Only”, they can still remember the significant learnings they gained from the course. The survey also explored any perspectives and changes in behaviours developed by participants brought about by undergoing the For Your Eyes Only course.

Ninety-six percent of the respondents indicated that because of the course they had changed perspectives when it comes the practice of sharing sexual/intimate images of themselves, which includes perspectives on victimisation (that boys can also be victimised) and that saying no is important. Eighty-four percent of the respondents also indicated that they changed certain behaviours after undergoing the course, including being more aware of warning signs and red flags when interacting online. Overall, respondents from the follow up survey indicated positive changes in terms of protective behaviour.

Lessons learned

The findings from the follow up survey indicate that For Your Eyes Only can indeed influence children’s behaviour regarding the complicated issue of ‘self-generated’ intimate/sexual imagery. Despite the relatively high internet penetration rate in the Philippines, there is still the challenge of increasing accessibility to the course. Institutional arrangements need to be developed with various duty bearers to find ways of making the material accessible to the wider population of youth who are at risk of being victimised with the non-consensual sharing of such images. Another lesson gained from implementing e-learning was to explore adaptation for mobile devices, especially for offline usage, something Stairway is already starting work on.