Police officer ‘depressed and terrified’ as two teen girls coerced into sharing nudes

'There were tears of embarrassment, frustration, regret, and anger.'

A British police officer has shared the upsetting story of two teenage girls who were pressured into sending nude photos. PC Sally Baines encountered the girls through her work this week, she wrote in a Twitter thread that has gone viral. They were asked to share nude images of themselves with boys so they could "see what was on offer", she said. The girls felt under "immense" pressure as they wanted to avoid being labelled as frigid and for the boys to like them, PC Baines added. They sent the photos to the boys, who then shared them among their friends. They were "devastated", the policewoman wrote. "I spent hours with these girls today. There were tears of embarrassment, frustration, regret, and anger." Asking for nudes is now seen as "completely normal", she said. PC Baines implored parents to talk to their teenage sons and daughters about consent in sharing explicit photos. "Speak to your daughters about this - tell them that being pushed into sending nudes is not part of a loving, healthy relationship. "Speak to your sons about this - tell them that pressuring girls into sending nudes, and if pressure doesn’t work, shaming them into doing it is awful." Here is the thread in full:

Spoke to 2 teenage girls today about sending nude pics to boys. The boys have pressured them by telling them ‘everyone else does it’ and that if they didn’t they ‘would tell everyone they’re frigid’ Photos sent - boys have shown them to all their mates.

Girls devastated. 1/6 — Pc Sally Baines (@WYP_SallyB) March 5, 2019

What is really sad is the normality attached to “sending nudes”.

That asking for them is seen as completely normal amongst teens and that sending sexually explicit photos is also seen as a normal part of courtship/relationship. 2/6 — Pc Sally Baines (@WYP_SallyB) March 5, 2019

The girls I spoke to today both felt under immense pressure to send these photos as they wanted the boys to like them, and the boys had said they wanted to ‘see what was on offer’. I honestly felt like crying when I heard this. 3/6

— Pc Sally Baines (@WYP_SallyB) March 5, 2019

As the Mother of a 10yr old daughter, this both depressed and terrifies me.

Speak to your daughters about this - tell them that being pushed into sending nudes is not part of a loving, healthy relationship. Saying No is perfectly acceptable and nothing to be ashamed of. 4/6 — Pc Sally Baines (@WYP_SallyB) March 5, 2019

Speak to your sons about this - tell them that pressuring girls into sending nudes, & if pressure doesn’t work, shaming them into doing it is awful. And that sharing the photos amongst mates or posting on Snapchat groups is quite frankly disgusting, not to mention an offence. 5/6

— Pc Sally Baines (@WYP_SallyB) March 5, 2019

I spent hours with these girls today. There were tears of embarrassment, frustration, regret, and anger. They weren’t the first girls to do this, & they won’t be the last. Parents, do me a favour - PLEASE - speak to your teens about this. 6/6

— Pc Sally Baines (@WYP_SallyB) March 5, 2019