Sextortion, the threatened dissemination of explicit, intimate, or embarrassing images of a sexual nature without consent, is an understudied problem. Despite a recent increase in reported incidents among adolescents in the United States, little is known about the nature and extent of sextortion among this population. The current research explores sextortion behaviors among a national sample of 4972 middle and high school students (mean age = 14.5) for the purpose of illuminating how many youth are targeted, and understanding various characteristics of the incident (including who was involved, what offenders wanted, what offenders did, and who targets told). About 5% of youth reported that they were victims of sextortion, primarily by people they knew. Many of those targeted did not disclose the incident to adults. Implications for future research and the law are discussed.
Patchin, J. W. & Hinduja, S. (2024). The Nature and Extent of Youth Sextortion: Legal Implications and Directions for Future Research, Behavioral Sciences and the Law, https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2667
Download PDF
If you are unable to access the article at the link above, please email us and we will send you a copy.
The post The Nature and Extent of Youth Sextortion: Legal Implications and Directions for Future Research appeared first on Cyberbullying Research Center.