Victims of Crime Assistance League (VOCAL) chief executive officer, Robyn Cotterell-Jones, said the country needed to reflect on the elements of its culture that encouraged boys to take, share and seek such images.

“There is a huge anti-feminist movement in Australia about putting women in their place as objects,” Ms Cotterell-Jones said.

“Why are our young boys trying to exploit school aged and other young women?

“Where are they getting the idea that it’s alright to invade someone’s privacy and make it public for their own salacious pleasure? 

“I suspect some have targeted the girls they can’t get and others are followers or caught up in between.”

Commentator Melinda Tankard Reist suggested the behaviour was also symptomatic of growing up in “porn culture”.

“Something is broken when boys, en masse, think they’ve got the right to do this,” she said. “Just how open they are, using words like hunting, wanted lists, bounties. Children are exposed to porn as early as 11 and boys grow up with a sense of entitlement to the bodies of girls, they feel they have a right to do this and treat it as a conquest.

“If they’re doing this now, what are they going to be doing in five years time?”

Ms Tankard Reist said discussions about how the girls should not have taken the photos missed the point and were equal to victim blaming. She said the girls may have been photographed by others, or made poor choices due to naivety, peer pressure or misplaced trust.

“Girls might not have had a healthy male role model in their life and are seeking attention and compliments in the wrong places,” she said.

“They’re growing up in a culture that rewards exhibitionism and treated as if their sole value lies in their body. We also have to remember the brains of young people are not fully developed until between 25 and 30. But they certainly did not consent to having their images shared online by multiple boys.”

She advocated a “whole of community approach” to changing the culture, including education about respect-based relationships.

”If we don’t start dealing with it, it will be a public health crisis, with young people unable to have healthy relationships and struggling with mental health and body image issues.” Ms Cotterell-Jones said she feared the photos could affect girls education and lead to depression and anxiety. “What is going to happen when… they’re going for a job interview or security clearance?”