The female victims of a vicious online pornography ring should not be shamed because their pictures fell into the wrong hands, Maitland MP and NSW Shadow Minister for Women Jenny Aitchison says.
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Earlier this week Fairfax Media reported that explicit photos of women and school-aged girls were being traded and posted online by anonymous users, with some becoming the subject of a hunt for nude or illicit photos.
Three Maitland area schools were among those in a list of 70 schools that have been targeted. The Mercury will not identify the schools in question to protect the identity of the victims.
Ms Aitchison said the behaviour of those linked to the pornography ring were a form of sexual assault.
"It's appalling," she said.
"With many of these girls being under age, it's a serious crime."
Ms Aitchison said it would be naive to think the problem of leaked explicit photos was contained to schools on the list.
She also said the list published this week did not identify where the perpetrators came from.
“There’s a real issue by naming schools, particularly, state schools, people might say well it’s not happening at our school,” she said.
“It sets up the view that some schools have got issues with bullying or explicit trading of sexual photos.
“Who’s to say it’s not at those other schools? I think it is. Just, maybe in a different way.”
Ms Aitchison said she was concerned that naming of schools could lead to victim-shaming, even though the incident reflected a society-wide issue.
“We need to protect our kids so they know people can’t ask you to do something you’re not comfortable with,” she said.
Ms Aitchison said parents and schools needed to be properly resourced to teach children how to cope with the pitfalls of a digital life.
“We need to, as a society, embrace the reality that we live in a community that’s increasingly operating online,” she said.
“Schools are preparing kids for life, but they need to prepare them for online life. Because this will have consequences for those girls that could be life-threatening for some.”
Sex Crimes Squad’s Child Exploitation Internet Unit detectives will liaise with other police and education departments to investigate.
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