Sana: the photo in the group chat

The case (fictional)

Sana is 16 and in Grade 11 at a girls' school in Dubai; her family is from Hyderabad in India. Her form tutor refers her to the school counsellor after a sharp fall in her grades, and because Sana now wears long sleeves even in PE.

Two months ago a classmate shared an edited photo of Sana, altered to look revealing, in a group chat, and it spread to other schools. Since then she has received anonymous messages calling her names and telling her to "disappear". She has stopped going to the canteen and eats lunch alone in the library. At night she scrolls the group chat for hours "to see what they are saying".

She has not told her parents. Her father "would take my phone and say it is my fault", and she fears what the community would say. Her mother has been unwell with depression this year.

Sana admits she has cut her forearm "a few times" to "make the noise stop". She denies wanting to die. Until this term she was a high achiever and played basketball. She is close to her older sister, who studies in Toronto and with whom she texts daily, and she describes her form tutor as "kind".