Changes coming to N.B. school systems to better address cyber sexual harassment

For the past two and a half years, teenagers have been turning to social media more than ever before due to pandemic related restrictions and online schooling.

The manager of the Southeastern Sexual Assault Center, a group that works with survivors of sexual assault in Southeastern New Brunswick, believes there has been an increase in sexual violence perpetrated online throughout the pandemic.

“There’s a lot of cyber violence, sexual violence online, sexual harassment, it’s something that we do see a lot of,` Jessica Gallant said on Thursday.

For the past two and a half years, teenagers have been turning to social media more than ever before due to pandemic related restrictions and online schooling.

Gallant, who gives presentations on this topic in schools, believes many young people lack proper education on how to navigate issues of consent as it relates to the Internet.

`The education component of it is maybe not as stressed as we’d like,” she said.

She also said there have been some recent cases of sextortion, meaning sexual coersion online, in the region, which can start by sending intimate pictures or videos to someone a young person may have met online.

“Taking screenshots is really easy. So something that they may not think is gonna be forever on the Internet, is and now is gonna be accessible to so many people,” she said.

She also brought attention to the prevalence of cyber harassment.