Photo sharing is the sending or sharing of intimate or sexual photos. Even though this usually happens online, it’s still considered a type of sexual activity. Just like with any sexual activity, voluntary consent is needed for photo sharing. Voluntary consent is a freely given, mutual, active, sober, enthusiastic agreement to engage in sexual activity.
Non-consensual photo sharing happens in a few different ways, including:
Because non-consensual photo sharing can be harmful, there are laws to protect people.
In Canada, it’s illegal to share or post intimate photos of someone without their permission. This law applies to everyone, no matter how old they are. It also applies to any way a photo can be shared. Some examples include: posting it online, messaging it to someone else, and uploading it to a shared photo album.
For people under 18, the laws are stricter. These laws are meant to provide extra protection for younger people. Intimate photos of anyone under 18 are illegal, even if they were shared with consent. This includes taking, keeping, sharing, and accessing the photos.
One important thing to note is that there is an exception to the Child Pornography laws called the Private Use Exception. This exception allows for very specific types of photos in limited circumstances. Part of growing up includes the creation and reinforcement of healthy relationships. This exception recognizes that sexual activity (including consensual photo sharing) can be a part of that.
For this exception to apply, three things must be true:
This exception does not apply if the people involved are outside of Canada’s Age of Consent Laws. Even with this exception, it doesn’t make the photos legal. Instead, this exception could be relied on if someone has been charged under the Child Pornography laws. The exception exists to protect young people while recognizing that exploring relationships is normal.
A common question about new technology is: What does the law say about deepfakes? As deepfakes and AI-generated images become more common, people are curious about how the law applies to them.
Deepfakes are images or videos made or altered using computers or AI tools. These images can be completely digital or edited versions of real images.
Even though the laws were written before deepfakes existed, they still offer some protection as these laws are very broad to include as many types of images as possible. When it comes to intimate images of people under 18, they are always illegal, whether they are:
For people 18 and older, it’s always illegal to share sexual images of someone else without their consent. Unfortunately, our current laws don’t fully cover deepfakes. When the law for all ages was written, deepfake technology wasn’t as advanced as it is today. As a result, our laws only provide protection for people under 18 from deepfake images and videos.
Technology often moves faster than the law, but laws are always changing. Hopefully, our laws will soon catch up and cover people of all ages when it comes to deepfakes.
There are other laws that can also provide protection against non-consensual photo sharing:
When it comes to all sexual activity (photo sharing included) it’s always important to get voluntary consent from everyone involved. Consent is what helps us tell the difference between sexual activity that is healthy and what is harmful or abusive. Regardless of whether something is illegal or not, our focus should be on whether or not the behaviour is harmful. If someone was harmed by those behaviours, then that behaviour needs to stop.
*Though “child pornography” is the legally accurate term to use at this time, SACE recognizes the problematic nature of this term. The word “pornography” suggests consent or that the behavior isn’t abusive. We want to acknowledge that these laws do not line up perfectly with Canada’s age of consent laws. Instead, when photo sharing falls outside of the age of consent laws (where people are not able to give consent) we prefer to use terms such as “images of child sexual abuse” or “child sexual abuse material” to make it clear that sexual images of children are a form of child sexual abuse.
The improper exposure of a child to any sexual contact, activity, or behaviour. This includes all sexual touching, the invitation to touch, exhibitionism, exposure to pornography.
Forcing another individual, through violence, threats (physical or emotional), pressure, deception, guilt, to engage in sexual activities against their will.
A voluntary agreement between 2 or more people to engage in sexual activity. Consent must be clear, informed, voluntary, sober, act and person-specific, ongoing, mutual, active, and come directly from the individuals engaging in the sexual contact. It is impossible to get consent from children, though close-in-age and peer-experimentation exceptions exist for youth ages 12-15.
A society or environment in which obtaining consent and respecting boundaries is the norm, for both sexual contact and everyday activities.
The advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes.
An intersectional approach to service delivery that acknowledges that the root of sexual violence is power inequality and works to reduce barriers that groups and individuals face when seeking support and volunteer or employment opportunities.
When an intimate photo or video is shared or taken without the voluntary consent (read consent definition above) of the person in the photo or video (Source: savedmonton.com)
Person-first language recognizes that a person is more than any one experience and that labels are sometimes harmful. People who have experienced sexual violence may use terms like victim or survivor to describe themselves, or they may use words like offender or perpetrator to describe the person who harmed them. Terms that resonate for one person may not fit for another person for a variety of reasons, and SACE supports a person’s right to self-determine their identity and experience. This is why at SACE, we default to person-first language such as “person who experienced sexual assault”, or “person who used abusive behavior”, unless speaking with or about an individual who has identified how they would like their experience to be talked about.
A society or environment whose prevailing social attitudes have the effect of normalizing or trivializing sexual assault and abuse.
Sex trafficking is a form of sexual exploitation. Human trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation is a crime and Canada has specific legislation in the Criminal Code (S. 279) and in the IRPA (Immigrant and Refugee Protection Action) (S. 117 & 118) to address all types of human trafficking (sexual exploitation, labour exploitation, organ, debt servitude) There are three elements to constitute human trafficking: Action + Means + Purpose.
Sexual abuse is most often used to refer to Child Sexual Abuse. To learn more about this, read the definition above or our section on Child Sexual Abuse.
Any form of sexual contact without voluntary consent, including unwanted: oral contact (kissing); sexual touching; oral-genital contact; and/or vaginal or anal penetration.
Any actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability, differential power, or trust, for sexual purposes, including, but not limited to, profiting monetarily, socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another.
Any unwanted comment, gesture, or action that is sexual in nature that makes someone feel afraid, embarrassed, uncomfortable or ashamed. The intention of the person doing the action doesn’t matter, it’s the negative impact the action has that makes something sexual harassment.
Sexual violence is an umbrella term that refers to any form of non-consensual sexual behavior, including sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual harassment, sexual exploitation, sex trafficking, and sexual violence facilitated through technology.
