The increasing role of social media in the sex lives of young people has prompted calls for teenagers to be better informed about consent and respect in relationships.
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YWCA Canberra executive director Frances Crimmins believes a broader approach to sex education in schools and better understanding of respectful relationships could influence attitudes about gender and reduce violence against women down the track.
Ms Crimmins will be among the speakers at a panel discussion, organised in conjunction with the Australian National University's Gender Institute, in Canberra on Friday as part of the international YWCA Week Without Violence.
The YWCA is using the event to relaunch a sex education resource, Relationship Things, which aims to teach young people about respectful relationships.
The material, which was produced in 2007, has been reissued to help young people navigate matters such as safe sex, consent and same-sex relationships in an age of technology and social media.
The kit includes a program guide, booklets and condoms and is designed for use in schools and community groups.
Ms Crimmins pointed to research from the Australian Communications and Media Authority, which showed the number of teenagers using the internet on their mobile phones more than tripled in the four years to December 2013 to reach 639,000 users.
"With this increased use of technology comes an increased pressure on young people interacting socially online," she said.
"Empirical studies show that approximately one in 10 teenagers has sent a sexually explicit text message, often containing graphic
"Worryingly, one in five teenagers has seen a sexually explicit text message, indicating that the messages are rarely only viewed by the intended recipient."
She said it was vital for modern sex education to address appropriate contact through online platforms such as Facebook, Skype, Twitter and Tinder.
"Digital communication through texting, instant messaging and social media is generally conducted outside of parental regulation," she said.
"So it is incredibly important that young people are equipped with the skills and knowledge to negotiate respect towards both their own and other people's relationships in order to ensure a safe, appropriate online environment where young people are supported and encouraged to engage with each other in a respectful way."
Ms Crimmins said school sex education tended to focus on "the biology of sex" but students were not taught how to establish "healthy, consensual sexual relationships".
She said the educational material focused on understanding social and cultural differences, open communication between young couples and advice on how to read body language.
Ms Crimmins said such topics focused on gender equality and would help reduce violence towards women, which remained "a huge issue".
"We also know that young women are at a greater risk of being victims of violence; one in seven girls aged 12 to 20 has experienced rape or sexual assault."
Hawker College student Angela Christian-Wilkes, who will also speak on the panel, said greater use of technology often meant relationships progressed more quickly and intensely.
She was concerned about the affect pornography had on how younger boys viewed sex and relationships, as well as the response to the recent, highly publicised online distribution of nude celebrity photos.
"The response from leaders was very much to say 'don't sext anyone', and while that makes sense in its most crystalline form, it's also very much victim-blaming as well."
Miss Christian-Wilkes said lessons about respectful relationships should be "woven into everything" in classrooms.
Other panel speakers will include Sergeant Joanne Cameron from the Australian Federal Police, and ACT Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex and Queer Ministerial Advisory Council chair Heidi Yates.
