Warning over teenage 'sexting' being used to exploit young girls

Teenage girls are being bullied as sexting gets out of control in Irish secondary schools.

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre says vulnerable young girls are being pressurised into sharing explicit images which can them be used in an exploitative way.

Intimate pictures sent via chat apps like Whatsapp, Viber or Snapchat are being used as a form of bullying.

The Centre classifies this as a form of "sexual violence" and a new module has been devised to tackle the problem - as part of the BodyRight programme - to help teach girls about the dangers of sexual violence.

This comes as there was a disturbing increase in the number of rapes and other sex attacks carried out last year.