How often have you heard someone say the following to a youth: “Just don’t sext”?

SAVE’s youth leaders and Youth Services team have created an alternative to the abstinence-only perspective, inspired by the affirmative consent revolution and with the assistance of youth and parents through focus groups and interviews. Join us to hear about a sex-positive, harm-reduction approach to teaching youth about the intersection of sexuality and technology.

This presentation will cover:

• healthy, unhealthy, and abusive sexting practices (including healthy, unhealthy, and abusive community responses,
• when a minor exposes a nude image of another minor),
• alternatives to sending nudes,
• a discussion on hearing no and saying no,
• and resources for minors who have either had their image exposed, or exposed the image of another minor.

Presenters:
Sarah Hyde, Youth Services Coordinator at SAVE, is a sex educator, violence prevention advocate, and healthy relationships specialist. She has worked with youth for four years and believes in making youth equal partners in her work. She’d like to thank the 30 youth who assisted in the creation of “Safer Sexting” for their collaboration!

Dr. Yasi Safinya-Davies has been serving survivors of intimate partner violence and sexual assault since 2009. She completed her doctoral degree in Clinical Psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology and centered her dissertation on issues related to women’s wellness.

Her professional focus is specific to the complexities often experienced within targeted communities, the impacts of trauma, and severe/chronic psychological conditions. She began her endeavors with SAVE as a mental health consultant and partnering facilitator of SAVE’s 40-hour Domestic Violence Advocate Certification Training. In 2014, Dr. Safinya-Davies was hired to direct SAVE’s Clinical and Prevention Programs, and in October, 2015 was promoted to the role of Executive Director. Additionally, Dr. Safinya-Davies is a professor with Argosy University for Master’s and Doctoral level counseling and psychology programs.

In 2016, Yasi was honored as an Alameda County Woman of the Year by Sen. Bob Weikowski particularly for her commitment to preventing domestic violence by helping young people learn and talk about the healthy relationships they deserve. Dr. Safinya-Davies is presently a fellow of LeaderSpring, a program for progressive grassroots leaders. She is an adjunct professor in the Masters and Doctorial Counseling and Psychology programs at Argosy University. Additionally, Dr. Safinya-Davies is a founding Board member of BASANT Now and was recently appointed to the Alameda County Status on the Commission of Women.

As a survivor, Yasi believes that equity for all people and self-love are the antidote to violence in our communities.

NOTE:

We want to clarify confusion about the legislation referenced during the webinar on penalties for the first time offense of sexting for minors being a misdemeanor, rather than a felony. The closest bill we could find was AB 1043, which would have specified that any minor who is engaged in “sexting” images of themselves or another minor may be adjudicated a ward of the juvenile court. This bill stopped moving forward in 2012, and is not law. More information is available here. 

At the federal level, there is a bill H.R.1761, also known as the ”Protecting Against Child Exploitation Act of 2017,” introduced to increase penalties for teens attempting to send or receive a sext. It passed in the House but it’s been in the Senate Judiciary Committee since June 2017. For more information, there is an article available here.   

If you have any questions, please contact our Policy team policy@cpedv.org