Steven

Steven had been going out with Sean for six months.

Things were going well, they had fun together and so one night they took a few intimate pictures.

They were both confident about their bodies and they agreed the pics were sexy.

Sean was always the life of the party and didn’t have many boundaries. One night when he was out with a mutual friend, he showed him a couple of Steven’s images. Sean was proud of how his boyfriend looked and he didn't think it was a big deal.

A couple of days later their friend told Steven about the images. Steven was shocked and deeply hurt. He confronted Sean, who was surprised at how upset he was. Steven saw it as a total breach of trust. Sean couldn’t believe it — Steven had always seemed so relaxed about nudity.

Steven explained to Sean that the pics were only meant for his eyes only. He trusted him and didn’t feel he needed to explain the pics shouldn’t be shared at the time because he thought it was obvious. Sean admitted he hadn't really thought it through. He realised he should have asked Steven before he shared them and was mortified he had hurt his relationship with Steven.

As Steven was so upset, a friend told him about eSafety and helped him find the image-based abuse information and support he needed.