Nonconsensual Sexually Explicit Content Common Among Male College Athletes and Fraternity Members
Sexually explicit content that’s nonconsensual can be widely found online due to high demand. Recent research on “slutpages” offers some interesting insights about college students and how frequently they visit these sites. But what exactly is a slutpage?
A slutpage is defined as a website, group, or email list where people can share nude images of other people, particularly young females, without their consent. The users then make comments on the photos in regards to their appearance and sexuality.
What Is Image-Based Sexual Abuse?
Slutpages can also be referred to as directories featuring image-based sexual abuse (IBSA), which is a term that involves threatening, shaming, and even abusing a person based on sexual images. Besides slutpages, IBSA includes behaviors such as sextortion and “revenge porn.” Because most of this abuse occurs via social media and websites, it is considered online IBSA.
IBSA is no minor issue. According to a 2016 study, IBSA victims tend to suffer the same traumatic effects as those victimized by sexual assault.
What the Study Showed
Close to 2,000 Michigan State University students were involved in the study. Researchers looked for three specific behaviors:
- Visiting a slutpage
- Posting nonconsensual sexually explicit images or videos
- Using Vault or a similar app to save these images
Researchers concluded that:
- More than 30% of college students have visited a slutpage.
- Those who use alcohol, social media, and pornography are more likely to visit a slutpage.
- Men involved in a fraternity or sports are more likely to visit a slutpage, with half of those surveyed doing so.
- Women involved in sororities are more likely to post nude images than those who are not involved (11% versus less than 1%). Interestingly, women who were involved in sports were least likely to view slutpages.
However, keep in mind that slutpages are found in all of mainstream culture — not just on college campuses. Slutpages can be found in all age groups, including adolescents. Users have posted 8,000 sexual harassment allegations on a website where victims can anonymously report sexual abuse. Many of the allegations were by adolescent girls.
Final Thoughts
This study is the first step in investigating the IBSA trend. It is helpful to see how various behaviors are associated with porn and sexual abuse. While more research is needed, it is becoming clearer sex culture influenced by porn culture has become focused on degradation and a lack of consent.
