Since Friday, Tele-Reception has received noticeably more calls about sexting. “It concerns about 10 to 15 conversations a day about the theme, which is much more than normal,” says spokeswoman Jennifer Pots.
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Although most calls came from young people, parents also called for advice. The majority of the calls came from people who have experience with sexting themselves. Young people between the ages of 18 and 24 were responsible for 15 percent of the calls. ‘They find courage in the stories of the BVs to tell their own stories, in complete confidence and anonymously. The feelings of shame of the famous Flemish people are strongly recognized ‘, says Jennifer Pots. ‘The media attention also gives some victims the courage to tell their story to the outside world now. They are also growing the hope that this will lead to a faster judicial review of this theme. ‘
Make sexting negotiable
On the other hand, according to Tele-Reception, there are also young people who are concerned whether their own photos are safe after they have been forwarded. A small group of callers also engage in ‘victim blaming’: they wonder how well-known Flemish people could fall into a trap.
It is striking that one in four telephones (27 percent) came from people between the ages of 50 and 59. ‘For example, they feel guilty because they forwarded the pictures of the BVs. Many people also ask for advice on how to make ‘sexting’ a topic of discussion with their children. ‘
Since Friday, Tele-Reception has recognized the same leverage effect as with the De Pauw case from 2017. “When a case receives so much attention in the media, we always have to deal with more calls,” says Pots. “We now see, for example, that 60 percent of the callers contacted us for the first time, which is also an indication to us that people are triggered by the case and are finding their way to help.”
If you want to tell your story yourself, you can contact us 24/7 at number 106 or via www.tele-onthaal.be
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