sexual

After reviewing data from 1,839 14- to 17-year-old high-school students in Los Angeles, researchers are confirming what may otherwise seem obvious: sexting and sex go hand in hand.

But which of these activities comes first -- sex or sexting -- remains unclear.

"What we really wanted to know is, is there a link between sexting and taking risks with your body? And the answer is a pretty resounding 'yes,'" lead author Eric Rice, an assistant professor of social work at the University of Southern California, in Los Angeles, told Reuters Health.

Rice and colleagues, who just published their findings in the journal Pediatrics, … Read more

Skout suspended its 17-and-under community following reports of men posing as teenagers to prey on minors on the mobile social network.

The creators of the popular location-based flirting app suspended the site at 1 p.m. PT to adjust safety and security measures, according to Skout's blog post on the suspension.

The shutdown upset users who posted comments on the blog post, asking when the site will be back up. A Skout spokesperson said it will make a decision about reopening the teen community after it has concluded an evaluation and made the adjustments.

Twitter encourages self-expression and prides itself on not censoring that self-expression.

There are many sorts of selves in the world. So who would be surprised that there appeared a Twitter feed called @LGBTfacts, whose intention is to offer, well, facts about the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community?

Because Twitter feeds are also subjective, you might wonder about the definition of the "facts" part of this feed.

For example: "Pedophile priests in the Church are closet liberal homosexuals acting out fantasy & trying to tarnish Church's rep #LGBTfacts #lgbt #ssm."

Here's another: "In … Read more

Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd made repeated sexual overtures--including kisses and inappropriate touching--according to the woman whose sexual harassment allegations led to Hurd's ouster.

The eight-page letter (see below), which was the subject of much contention, was written to Hurd by celebrity attorney Gloria Allred on behalf of Jodie Fisher, a former salesperson and one-time actress who accused the HP chief of trying to initiate an affair over a two-year period.

Hurd lost his battle to keep the letter confidential yesterday when a Delaware court ruled that Hurd had not established "good cause" to keep the letter … Read more

Mark Hurd, Hewlett-Packard's former CEO and now the current president of Oracle, lost his fight in court this week to keep confidential a letter alleging sexual harassment.

A Delaware court ruled yesterday that Hurd had not established "good cause" to keep the letter under wraps. (Here's the court record uploaded by All Things Digital's Arik Hesseldahl.)

The letter in question is from lawyers representing Jodie Fisher, a sometime actress who worked as a contractor for HP to its board of directors. In the letter, she accuses Hurd of harassment that occurred from 2007 to 2009. … Read more

A report from the University of New Hampshire's Crimes against Children Research Center shows a significant decrease in "unwanted online sexual solicitation" as well as "unwanted exposure to pornography" in recent years among children ages 10 to 17 years old. There was a small increase in online harassment.

Nine percent of respondents reported getting an unwanted sexual solicitation in 2010, compared with 13 percent in 2005 and 19 percent in 2000 -- a steady decrease. The percentage of youth who reported an unwanted exposure to pornography was 23 percent in 2010, down from 34 percent … Read more

There's a new fitness gadget making the rounds. Even more silly (not to mention sexual) than the good ol' Thigh Master and newcomer Shake Weight, the Free Flexor makes us giggle when it's in use.

Just watch the below commercial we found on YouTube, for starters. Within seconds, you will probably blush, laugh, and copy and paste the URL. We'd tell you why it makes us laugh, but we're too ashamed to get into it (no pun intended). Guaranteed, you will share it with your friends. Some of them might even buy it for novelty alone.

I'm not judging--I have a Shake Weight at home. I don't know if it really works, but it sure is a great conversation piece at house parties.

Now about the Free Flexor... We have yet to try it, so we couldn't tell you if it's effective or not. To get the lowdown, we turned to fitness experts for their opinions.… Read more

A woman who sued Match.com claiming she was sexually assaulted on a date has settled her lawsuit after seeing proof that the site now screens its members for sexual predators, according to the Associated Press.

Carole Markin had sued the online dating site in April following the reported assault after learning that her date had previously been convicted of sexual battery. Rather than seeking financial damages, Markin's lawsuit asked that Match.com start reviewing its membership for signs of sexual predators.

Shortly after the suit was filed, the dating service announced a new policy whereby it would check its members against a national sex offenders registry. … Read more

The White House hopes the application-developer community will answer its call for help in preventing sexual assault and dating violence.

Vice President Joe Biden and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced such a technology challenge to the development community today. Both have been advocates for the prevention of sexual assault and dating violence among young adults.

The challenge is part of the broader use of technology by the White House to get the public involved with larger government issues. White House Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra said there are 80 such challenges on the Web site Challenge.gov, … Read more