MELBOURNE - One in five Australians has admitted to being the subject of online "image abuse", whereby personal photographs - often of an explicit nature - are unknowingly shared online, according the results of a survey released on Monday. The phenomenon is commonly known as "revenge porn" in Australia and the survey of 4,274 people aged 16 to 49, undertaken by Monash University and RMIT University, showed that 22 percent of men and 23 percent of women had been the victim of "image abuse." According to the survey, the most common types of abuse were having sexual or nude images taken without consent (20 percent), the distribution of images without consent (11 percent) and threatening to have images shared (9 percent). The majority of perpetrators were found to be men (54 percent), while 33 percent of perpetrators were female and 13 percent of cases were either 'unlisted' or committed by 'a group' of people. Lead investigator, RMIT University's Dr Nicola Henry, said the research showed that revenge porn was affecting a wider range of people than first thought, adding that authorities were lagging behind in making the practice illegal. "Image-based abuse has emerged so rapidly as an issue that inevitably our laws and policies are struggling to catch up," Henry said in a statement on Monday. "This isn't just about 'revenge porn' - images are being used to control, abuse and humiliate people in ways that go well beyond the 'relationship gone sour' scenario." Colleague, Dr Anastasia Powell said governments needed to "rethink (their) approach from a legal perspective", while Monash University's Dr Asher Flynn said it was also likely that the survey's findings had underestimated the extent of image-based abuse. "Our survey only captured those victims who had become aware their images had been distributed, whereas some victims may never discover that their images have been taken and distributed, particularly if they are circulated on sites located on the dark web," Flynn said. custom silicone braceletswoven wristbandsslap wristbandsjordan wristband24 hour wristbandsprintable wristbandswrist band com coupon codecool wristbands
A finless porpoise is taken for a physical examination in Jiangxi province. The species has been classified as critically endangered. Recent research may provide good news about the endangered species, as Cheng Si and Liu Kun report from Wuhan. The rate of decline in the number of finless porpoises in the Yangtze River may have slowed in the past six years, according to experts in the field. Wang Ding, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Hydrobiology, said official statistics will not be released until March, but recent research may indicate positive steps in the conservation of the species, which is classified as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. However, the river's environment is still deteriorating as a result of overexploitation of natural resources, while waterway regulations and water-related construction projects pose great threats to the porpoise's natural habitat, Wang said. His comments came at the end of a scientific survey of the porpoise that was launched in Wuhan, Hubei province, on Nov 11. The survey, conducted by CAS, reviewed the status of the species in the Yangtze River, its major tributaries and two lakes called Dongting and Poyang. Financed by the World Wide Fund for Nature and charities in Hubei, the 40-day survey covered 3,400 kilometers of water, from Wuchang, Hubei, to Shanghai. In 2006, a survey found that there were 1,800 finless porpoises in the wild. However, the number had fallen to 1,405 by 2012, indicating an annual rate of decline of 13.7 percent. The number is now estimated to be less than 1,000, and the ministry placed the species under the highest level of State protection in May. Freshwater species The finless porpoise, a member of the toothed whale family, is so named because it lacks a true dorsal fin. Females produce a calf once every two years, and have a gestation period of 10 to 11 months. The species makes both high-and low-frequency tones and uses ultrasound to communicate.
