Sextortion: A Scoping Review.

Sextortion refers to making threats to share nude or sexual images to coerce the victim into complying with certain demands, such as paying a ransom, sharing intimate images, or engaging in unwanted acts. Sextortion occurs in a diverse range of contexts, including intimate partner abuse, cyberbullying, sexuality or sex worker "outing," online dating, "cybersex," sex trafficking, online sexual exploitation of children, computer hacking, and organized crime. Despite the heightened media focus, few studies have measured the prevalence, nature, and impacts of sextortion. We conducted a scoping review with the aim of providing a comprehensive overview of existing empirical research on sextortion victimization and perpetration among youth and adults. In total, 24 studies were identified based on predefined eligibility criteria. We found that studies focusing on youth reported prevalence ranging from 0.7% to 5.0%, while studies involving adults ranged from 4.0% to 18.7%. The review found that young people and sexual minorities are more likely to experience victimization, while men, young people, and sexual minorities are more likely to self-report engaging in sextortion offending. The review found that perpetrators are more likely to be intimate partners or other known persons as opposed to strangers and that there was an overlap between sextortion perpetration and victimization. Finally, we also found that sextortion can result in significant harms, and that reporting and help-seeking remain very low due to shame, fear, and negative perceptions of police and digital platforms. The findings highlight existing gaps and provide recommendations for future research, policy, and practice.

A Comparative Study of the Help-Seeking Behavior of Victims of Contact Sexual Violence and Image-Based Sexual Harassment and Abuse.

Sexual victimization may have serious consequences for victims' well-being. Thus, seeking support is encouraged and associated with positive outcomes. However, no research has compared the help-seeking behavior of victims of contact and image-based (i.e., noncontact) sexual violence. This study explores the differences in help-seeking behavior, and barriers to help-seeking, by comparing datasets from two online survey studies. The findings highlight that victims of contact sexual violence appear more likely to seek help, but also experience the barriers to help-seeking as greater. An exception is the minimization of the incident, which is experienced similarly by both. Future longitudinal research is recommended.

From Non-Traditional Sexual Behavior to Non-Legitimate Victims: Moral Virtue, Victim Blame, and Helping Intentions Toward a Woman Victim of Image-Based Sexual Abuse.

Image-based sexual abuse represents an increasingly common form of gender-based violence, consisting of the act of non-consensually capturing, distributing, or threatening to distribute sexually explicit material depicting another person. The purpose of the present study was to investigate how women victims' noncompliance with traditional female sexuality influences bystanders' perceptions of the phenomenon. Specifically, we experimentally examined whether a woman's sexual agency (high vs. low) and the length (steady vs. transient) of the relationship with the perpetrator affected her moral evaluation, victim blaming, and participants' willingness to support her. A sample of 597 adults (65.7% women, Mage = 31.29 years) took part in the study. The findings indicated that while a transient (vs. steady) relationship with the perpetrator significantly lowered the woman's perceived moral virtue and increased the extent to which she was blamed for the incident, a high (vs. low) woman's sexual agency decreased participants' helping intentions towards her. Additionally, results showed that men were less likely than women to attribute moral virtue and help the victim. Lastly, through the mediation of moral virtue and victim blaming, the length of the relationship indirectly influenced participants' helping intentions.

Understanding Social Judgments of and Proclivities to Commit Upskirting.

Against a backdrop of legislative change that sees the taking of private sexual images underneath the clothing of a non-consenting other being made a criminal offence - upskirting - there is a need to understand the public's judgments of and motivations to perpetrate said behavior. In this study (N = 490), we investigated whether judgments of upskirting differed as a function of the sex of the person who was upskirted (male, female) and their perceived attractiveness (attractive, unattractive), as well as how variation in voyeuristic interest, belief in a just world, and dark personality traits predicted judgments of and proclivity to engage in upskirting. We consistently observed more lenient judgments of upskirting behavior when the person who was upskirted was attractive and male, with such judgements predicted by older age across all conditions. Moreover, proclivity to engage in upskirting was predicted by past voyeuristic behaviors, higher psychopathic personality, and being male and of older age. We discuss our findings in the context of needing to qualitatively understand the rationale underpinning these judgments, combating barriers to disclose victimization, and practitioner implications.

Image-Based Sexual Abuse Perpetration: A Scoping Review.

Image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) refers to the nonconsensual creating, taking, or sharing of intimate images, including threatening to share images. It can also include coercing someone into sharing intimate images, or sending unwanted intimate images. In recent years, there has been growing attention to the nature, scope, and impacts of IBSA, but comparatively little attention has been paid to the perpetration of these harms. This scoping review consolidates and synthesizes the existing knowledge on the perpetration of IBSA against adults. The review involved a systematic search of scholarly and gray literature across select databases. In total, 26 studies met the inclusion criteria. Studies were included if they were published in English between 2013 and 2023 and reported on findings of a sample of adults over the age of 16 who admitted IBSA perpetration behaviors. The review found that prevalence of subtypes of IBSA varied significantly across the studies. There was consensus that adults who engage in IBSA perpetration are more likely to be men, younger adults, and LGBTIQ+. Motivations were multifaceted, but tended to relate to social rewards, power dynamics, sexual gratification, and retaliatory impulses. Dark Tetrad traits were found to be positively associated with IBSA perpetration. The research also indicates on overlap between victimization and perpetration, as well as an association with other offending behaviors, such as intimate partner violence. Prevention interventions should be focused on changing the opportunities, affordances, and infrastructures for offending, as well as addressing problematic societal attitudes and norms, with early interventions focused on building resilience and self-esteem, and promoting healthy behaviors and respectful relationships.

Development and Validation of Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence Perpetration and Victimization Scales Among Adults.

Technology-facilitated sexual violence (TFSV) includes different forms of digital violence, such as online gender-based violence, online gender- and sexuality-based violence, digital sexual harassment, online sexual coercion, and nonconsensual pornography. The aim of this study was to design and validate a measure to assess the perpetration and victimization of each dimension of TFSV. The relationships between the different dimensions and differences by gender and sexual orientation were also analyzed. The participants were a sample of 2,486 adults (69% women) from Spain, aged between 16 and 79 (M = 25.95; DT = 9.809) years. The Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence Scales were found to be valid and reliable instruments, supporting our recommendation for the use of these scales. Network analysis and solution-based exploratory factor analyses showed that the dimensions of online sexual coercion and nonconsensual pornography clustered together. All the perpetration variables were related to sexism. Finally, cis women and nonheterosexual people reported higher victimization scores overall compared to cis men and heterosexuals, respectively, while cis men reported higher perpetration scores overall than cis women.

Facilitators and Barriers of Bystander Intervention Intent in Image-Based Sexual Abuse Contexts: A Focus Group Study with a University Sample.

Image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) encompasses the taking, sharing, and/or threatening to share nude or sexual images of others without their consent. The prevalence of IBSA is growing rapidly due to technological advancements, such as access to smartphones, that have made engagement in such activities easier. Bystanders offer an important means of intervention, but little is known about what facilitates or inhibits bystander action in these contexts. To address this gap in the literature, seven focus groups (n = 35) were conducted to explore the factors that facilitate and inhibit bystander action in the context of three different IBSA scenarios (taking, sharing, and making threats to share nude or sexual images without consent). Using thematic analysis, eight themes were identified, suggesting that the perceived likelihood of intervention increased with greater feelings of responsibility, empathy with the victim, reduced feelings of audience inhibition, greater feelings of safety, greater anger toward the IBSA behavior, closer relationships with the victim and perpetrator, the incident involving a female victim and male perpetrator, and perception of greater benefits of police involvement. These findings are considered alongside the physical sexual violence literature in highlighting the similarities and nuances across the different contexts. Implications for the development of policies and educational materials are discussed in relation to encouraging greater bystander intervention in IBSA contexts.

Technology-Facilitated Sexual Violence and Abuse in Low and Middle-Income Countries: A Scoping Review.

Technology-facilitated sexual violence and abuse (TFSVA) is a pervasive phenomenon and a global problem. TFSVA refers to any form of sexual violence, exploitation, or harassment enacted through the misuse of digital technologies. This includes, but is not limited to, image-based sexual abuse, online sexual exploitation and harassment, sextortion, and the non-consensual sharing of sexual images. It has significant and long-lasting psychological, social, financial, and health impacts. TFSVA is on the rise, particularly in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), where there has been an explosion in digital technology overall. This scoping review aimed to identify studies on TFSVA in LMICs to examine its types, impacts, victim-survivor coping strategies, and help-seeking. To identify peer-reviewed literature, six databases were searched: Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts, ProQuest, PubMed, Scopus, Star Plus-University of Sheffield library search, and Web of Science. The review included empirical studies published in English between 1996 and 2022, focusing on TFSVA among adults (aged 18+) in LMICs. A total of 14 peer-reviewed studies were included, highlighting that scant empirical research is available on TFSVA in LMICs. This review found several types of TFSVA and their wide-ranging impacts; traditional patriarchal societal norms and values largely shape TFSVA for women in LMICs. It also found more social impacts linked to sociocultural factors. Survivors adopted various coping mechanisms and help-seeking behaviors primarily through informal family support. Studies highlighted the need for effective legislation; pro-victim-survivor policing; strong family support; increasing victim-survivors' knowledge about reporting; and more research.

Legal Protection of Revenge and Deepfake Porn Victims in the European Union: Findings From a Comparative Legal Study.

The use of images of persons in a pornographic context (without the prior consent of the person concerned) on the internet is an increasingly widespread infringement. Unlawful activities carried out with the use of generated images and artificial intelligence are a variant of this phenomenon. "Revenge porn" and "deepfake porn" illustrate the inadequacy of legal systems vis a vis the fast-changing reality. Using the comparative law method, a comparison was made between the current laws of nine EU Member States to create a map of protection for victims of revenge porn. As the results showed, in three of the studied countries there is a separate incrimination of revenge porn; however, the conceptual scope of its definition is significantly different and it is these differences that determine the legal way for the victims to assert their rights. This article is a comparison of the current legal regulations of selected European Union countries and the means of legal protection used by the victims. The text presents the differences occurring in the legal systems adopted in the countries subject to analysis, as well as an assessment of possible solutions at the legal and technological level to face the existing problem.

Perpetrators' Identity in Online Crimes Against Children: A Meta-Analysis.

Public and police concern about internet crimes against children has been primarily typified as a stranger danger problem. However, existing research suggests a variety of perpetrator ages and relationships to the victim. A more accurate estimate will help inform prevention efforts. This study provides a meta-analysis examining the identity of perpetrators in internet crimes against children. Databases were searched for published and unpublished studies using a detailed search strategy. In total, 32 studies met full inclusion criteria. Inclusion criteria was the following: (1) the victim sample consisted of children under the age of 18 years or young adults (18-25) asked to respond retrospectively; (2) the study victims experienced abuse through the use of technology; (3) the study reported the identity of the perpetrator, either the relationship to the victim or the age of the perpetrator; (4) the study was available in English. The overall proportion of offenders under the age of 18 as a proportion of all identified offenders was 44% (95% CI: 0.28-0.60). The overall proportion of acquaintance and family offenders as a proportion of all identified offenders was 68% (95% CI: 0.62-0.75). Between study variability was explained by data source, with higher proportion of juvenile offenders in studies using survey data. This meta-analysis confirms that most perpetrators of online crimes against children are not strangers to their victims and a large portion of perpetrators are juveniles. Prevention education needs to focus more on inappropriate behavior from anyone in addition to the dangers about communicating with strangers.

The Role of Sexting on the Perception of Image-Based Sexual Abuse.

Gender-based violence is a widespread phenomenon that significantly impacts many women around the world. Among the different forms that it might take, image-based sexual abuse represents one of the most common forms nowadays. According to the literature, sexting-the sharing of sexually explicit messages or images-is one of the most important risk factors for image-based sexual abuse because sexts can be forwarded or published without the authorization of the originator. Nevertheless, sexting can play a role in sexual and relational development and serve as a first step in experimenting with sexual contact in real life. In this study (N = 603 from the general population), we examined the relations between people's beliefs about sexting, attitudes toward it, and sexting behavior on the one hand, and reactions to a situation of nonconsensual dissemination of sexts on the other hand. Results showed that social pressure exerted by peers and partners to sext was associated with both positive attitudes toward sexting and sexting behaviors. Attitudes toward sexting, then, have a spillover effect on the reactions toward a victim of nonconsensual dissemination of sexts, in terms of empathy, victim blaming, and affective reactions. Implications for both research and policymaking regarding this form of gender-based violence are discussed.

Image-Based Sexual Abuse Associated Factors: A Systematic Review.

Purpose: Image-Based Sexual Abuse (IBSA) is a recently studied form of violence and abuse perpetrated using technology. This systematic review aims to examine and systematize studies exploring factors associated with IBSA (e.g., victimization, perpetration, and propensity to perpetrate). Method: Following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement, 17 articles were included. Results: The results of this study highlighted conceptual and methodological limitations in the literature on IBSA. Aside from these limitations, this systematic review identified factors associated with IBSA, focusing on four macro-areas: victimization, perpetration, propensity to perpetrate IBSA, and IBSA implications. The results demonstrated the role of psychological, relational, and social variables, although the effect sizes observed in the quantitative studies were small or in few cases moderate. Conclusions: These results suggest further research should be carried out to explore the multidimensionality of IBSA and its associated factors, which may assist in guiding interventions to promote preventive and rehabilitative methods to lower the prevalence of this crime and its consequences.

A Qualitative Study of How Israeli Arab Educational Counselors Handle Image-Based Sexual Abuse of Female Adolescents.

Image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) refers to the nonconsensual production, dissemination, or threat of dissemination of private sexual images of another. Arabs belong to a conservative society where the distribution of a nude photo constitutes a violation of the dignity of the family and may have serious consequences. Based on semistructured in-depth interviews, the present study examined how 32 Arab educational counselors in Israel handle IBSA. Findings suggest that counselors identified the victim as experiencing difficulties that allowed her to be harmed. Also, it was found that counselors were afraid it might harm the victims on the grounds of family honor. These findings indicate that it is necessary to find culturally sensitive solutions both for the prevention and treatment of this phenomenon.

Behavioral Intentions of Bystanders to Image-Based Sexual Abuse: A Preliminary Focus Group Study with a University Student Sample.

Image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) represents a form of technology-facilitated sexual abuse that encompasses the taking, creating, and/or sharing (including threats to share) of nude or sexual images without consent. Unlike physical sexual violence contexts, little is known regarding if and how bystanders intervene in IBSA contexts. The current preliminary study aimed to address this gap in the literature. Specifically, seven focus groups with a sample of 35 university students (31 females, 4 males) were conducted to explore how they think they would behave (i.e., their behavioral intentions) if they were bystanders to three different IBSA scenarios: non-consensual taking, non-consensual sharing, and threatening to share nude or sexual images. Transcripts were analyzed using thematic analysis and the following themes were identified: perpetrator-centered action, victim-centered action, justice-centered action, and intervention as a well-informed and controlled process. Participants discussed how they would intervene by approaching the perpetrator, either in a confrontational or non-confrontational way, or approach the victim to inform them of what was happening, provide advice, or to support them. They also discussed involving the police. However, some group members were against these forms of intervention, particularly approaching the perpetrator and involving the police. Finally, many participants indicated that their actions need to be well-informed. These findings highlight a wide range of bystander actions in IBSA contexts that have implications for the development of policies, educational materials, and measures of bystander intervention behavior in future research.

Predictors of Online Child Sexual Abuse in a U.S. National Sample.

As technology has become increasingly integrated into the everyday lives of young people and social interactions have moved online, so too have the opportunities for child sexual abuse. However, the risk factors for online sexual abuse, and their similarities or differences with those of offline sexual abuse have not been clarified, making it difficult to design prevention strategies. Using a nationally representative online survey panel of young adults ages 18 to 28, the current study sought to identify risk factors for online childhood sexual abuse and compare their relevance and strength in predicting offline sexual abuse. The 2,639 participants, ages 18 to 28, were sampled from the Ipsos KnowledgePanel and were asked questions about 11 different kinds of technology-facilitated online sexual abuse that occurred in childhood, follow-up questions about their dynamics and offenders, and a variety of potential risk factors. Results indicated that: (1) being cisgender female, nonheterosexual, and having parents with less than a high school education emerged as important demographic predictors of online child sexual abuse (OCSA); and (2) early offline sexual abuse was the strongest predictor of OCSA, when considering both its direct and indirect effects through online risky behavior. Findings suggest that prevention programs directed at reducing risk of sexual abuse, in general, are likely to be effective against online sexual abuse, provided they also incorporate efforts to educate youth on the need to avoid risky online behaviors.

Development and Validation of the Beliefs About Revenge Pornography Questionnaire.

The non-consensual sharing of private sexual images (so-called 'revenge pornography') has become an increasingly prominent topic in social and legislative discussions about sexual crime but has received relatively little attention within psychological research. Here, we leveraged existing theorizing in the area of sexual offending proclivity to systematically develop and validate a measure of beliefs about this type of offending. There is currently a lack of validated assessment tools in this area, and these are important to better understand the role of offense-supportive cognition in predicting both proclivity of these offenses and judgements of both victims and perpetrators. Using an international community sample (N = 511) we found our 'Beliefs about Revenge Pornography Questionnaire (BRPQ)' to be comprised of four underpinning domains: 'Victims as Promiscuous', 'Victim Harm', 'Avoiding Vulnerable Behaviors' and 'Offense Minimization'. Concurrent validity is demonstrated through relationships with trait empathy, belief in a just world, dark personality traits and rape myth acceptance. Randomly dividing the sample, we also show that the BRPQ was associated with both proclivity (n = 227) and social judgements of this type of offending (n = 232). Implications and future directions are discussed. An open-access preprint is available at https://psyarxiv.com/6qr7t/.

Sexual Victimization in the Digital Age: A Population-Based Study of Physical and Image-Based Sexual Abuse Among Adolescents.

Adolescents increasingly use social media platforms, and these practices open up new forms of sexual victimization, in particular image-based sexual abuse (IBSA). Few studies have examined prevalence rates and correlates of both physical sexual victimization (PSV) and these new forms of victimization in representative samples. We used data from 5,245 adolescent girls (53%) and 4,580 adolescent boys (47%) from the population-based Young in Oslo Study (mean age 17.1 years, SD = 0.9). Of all respondents, 2.9% had experienced IBSA, 4.3% PSV, and 1.7% both IBSA and PSV in the course of the previous 12 months. Multivariate analyses revealed that PSV victims, after control for other variables, had many characteristics described in previous studies of sexual victimization. Girls had higher prevalence rates than boys, many had been victims of other types of violence, and were part of peer groups with much use of alcohol and drugs. PSV victims also reported early intercourse onset and a higher proportion had been commercially sexually exploited. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual adolescents had higher victimization rates. Victims of both PSV and IBSA had a similar but even more pronounced profile. The IBSA victims were different: They lacked many of the traditional risk factors for sexual victimization, there were no significant gender differences in this group, and IBSA victims more often came from high socioeconomic backgrounds. In conclusion, we observe a reconfigured landscape of sexual victimization patterns among Norway adolescents due to their increasing participation on social media and digital platforms.

Image-Based Sexual Abuse as a Means of Coercive Control: Victim-Survivor Experiences.

Scholars and practitioners increasingly acknowledge the ways that abusive partners create, distribute, or threaten to distribute intimate images without consent, yet little empirical research has comprehensively explored image-based sexual abuse within intimate partner contexts. This article responds to this gap and reports on the findings of a study involving interviews with 29 women and one gender-diverse person who experienced image-based sexual abuse as part of a pattern of "coercive control." The authors argue that abusive partners use intimate imagery as a means of exerting power and control, and as a tactic of intimidation, entrapment, and degradation. They note that law, policy, and practice responses should recognize the gendered nature of image-based sexual abuse and its growing use as a means of coercive control.

Assessing image-based sexual abuse: Measurement, prevalence, and temporal stability of sextortion and nonconsensual sexting ("revenge porn") among adolescents.

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study is to develop a new measure of victimization and perpetration of two frequent forms of image-based sexual abuse, namely sextortion (i.e., the threat of distributing sexual images to pressure the victim into doing something) and nonconsensual sexting (i.e., distributing sexual images of someone without the consent of the victim). Additional aims were to analyze the prevalence of these forms of victimization and perpetration and to examine their temporal stability over a 1-year period. METHODS: The sample was made up of 1820 Spanish adolescents (mean age = 13.38, SD = 1.42; 929 girls, 878 boys, 3 nonbinary, and 10 did not indicate gender) who completed self-report instruments on image-based sexual abuse and related variables (e.g., cyberbullying victimization). RESULTS: Confirmatory factor analysis supported a structure composed of the four hypothesized factors: sextortion victimization and perpetration, and nonconsensual sexting victimization and perpetration. Higher sexting, cyberbullying victimization, and symptoms of depression and anxiety had stronger associations with image-based sexual victimization than with perpetration, which showed evidence of concurrent validity. Prevalence was 2.6% and 0.7% for sextortion victimization and perpetration, respectively, and 3.4% and 4.9% for nonconsensual sexting victimization and perpetration, respectively. Temporal stability over 1 year was .26 for sextortion victimization, .19 for nonconsensual sexting victimization, .33 for nonconsensual sexting perpetration (all ps < .001), and nonsignificant for sextortion perpetration. The stability of nonconsensual sexting victimization was significantly higher for girls compared to boys, whereas nonconsensual sexting perpetration was more stable over 1 year for boys. CONCLUSIONS: Future studies must advance the analysis of the predictors and consequences of image-based sexual abuse among adolescents to better prevent this problem. Prevalence of sextortion and nonconsensual sexting is not negligible, and these problems should be particularly addressed in prevention programs.

Nonconsensual Distribution of Sexually Explicit Images Within a Context of Coercive Control: Frequency, Characteristics, and Associations with Other Forms of Victimization.

The present study examined the frequency and characteristics of nonconsensual distribution of sexually explicit images (NCD) among undergraduates (n = 496) and its co-occurrence with other forms of interpersonal violence (e.g., physical, sexual, and psychological abuse). Overall, 17.34% of participants reported NCD victimization; most were women (90.70%). Women who reported NCD from current/former partners (71.79%), compared to non-romantic acquaintances, reported more additional interpersonal violence from the same perpetrator and marginally higher threats of NCD, but were no more likely to receive NCD demands. NCD appears to occur within a pattern of elevated violence; prevention and intervention efforts are needed.