Men are sharing explicit pictures of Australian women via a disgusting online forum.

A shocking online forum has emerged featuring hundreds of explicit images of unsuspecting Australian women, seemingly uploaded without their knowledge or consent.

The site contains several folders that group the photographs into distinct categories such as geographical location, race, or even by an individual’s name.

At the time of writing the forum included folders titled, “Bendigo nudes”, “Sydney Asians”, “Tassie NW coast ONLY” and “Yarra Valley Sluts”.

While we’re unable to confirm the age or identity of those featured, Mamamia also observed multiple folders for specific high schools, some of which contain images of naked and semi-naked females.

The photographs are organised into categories. 

Mamamia was made aware of the forum by a reader, who came across a post about it on her Facebook feed.

Simone Williams said her "blood ran cold" when she clicked on the link.

"I see photos of girls I knew in high school, of girls who I met at work and in Grade One and through netball and university," she told Mamamia. "I feel sick as a see the comments below photos of my friend’s sisters and people I follow on Instagram."

Read her full account here.

Mamamia has also spoken to a number of women featured on the site, none of whom gave consent for their image to be uploaded.

One woman, from regional Victoria, told Mamamia she found it “utterly disturbing” to discover her private photos had been circulated online without her knowledge.

“Those are images I have sent in private to my at the time boyfriend who I was in a long distance relationship (with),” she said.

The posts refer to women as "wins" and often use symbols to spell out their names.

Several posts featured on the site identify individual women by name, while others contain requests for photographs of specific women.

"Thought it was time to get a Launceston thread happening, as there are ones for other parts of the state. I'll start off with [woman's name]," reads the caption on one folder.

"Anyone got any of this girl? She's been around so there has to be some," posts another user alongside a photograph.

"[Woman's name] from [name of a high school] not much to go on but she was a massive slut back in the day maybe theres some photos that people are willing to share [sic]," asks another.

The users, most of whom appear to be male, post under anonymous usernames, and are encouraged to post details of their "wins" with women.

Several use symbols in place of certain letters when referring to women by name, presumably to make it difficult for them to search for themselves.

The website's current IP address can be traced to North America, but it remains unclear who operates the site or from where.

Anonymous users request additional photographs from each other.

NSW Police Detective Acting Superintendent Michael Haddow, of the Sex Crimes Squad, said in NSW people could be charged with using a carriage service to cause offence or harass or menace another person under Commonwealth telecommunications law.

If convicted, an offender would face a maximum three-year prison sentence.

“Ultimately if a woman becomes aware of images posted online, they should report it to police as a crime,” he told Mamamia.

“What we find in a lot of cases like this is people just want it gone, they don’t necessarily want an investigation.”

Mamamia also reached out to Victoria Police, but they were unable respond by deadline.

Feature image via iStock.