Report: Pressure On Young Women To Participate In Sexting Is A Growing Problem

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MIAMI (CBSMiami) – A new report highlights the intense pressure on young women to share nude photos of themselves.

Researchers at Northwestern University analyzed nearly 500 stories on an anti-cyberbullying and sexting campaign's website.

Two-thirds of girls aged 12 through 18 said they had been asked for explicit images.

Researchers say the girls faced "persistent requests, anger and threats" from boys to send those images.

Psychologist and CBS News contributor Lisa Damour writes about the study this morning in a New York Times article called "Teenagers, Stop Asking For Nude Photos."

She says it's time to, "recalibrate some of the toxic norms that have taken hold among teenagers."

Damour says the problem is starting before the teen years and a conversation like this may have to happen just as soon as you give them a phone.