The internet has become a powerful tool for predators, enabling them to gather detailed information about their victims’ routines, appointments, social habits, workplaces, and vehicle registration numbers. In many cases, they even gain personal insights, such as clothing preferences, mannerisms, and specific lifestyle choices. Most of this is achieved without raising suspicion, providing perpetrators with ample time to meticulously plan hostile actions and engage in technology-enabled sexual abuse. As a result, it becomes significantly harder for victims to detect and protect themselves from the looming threat. It could be argued that eliminating this threat is impossible, but we can take steps to mitigate it.
Technology-enabled abuse is a very real concern, a far cry from the dismissive view of it as a “virtual issue.” Many cases go unreported, leaving the full scale of this problem unknown. Technology-based abuse takes many forms, including online grooming, livestreamed abuse, online sexual coercion, online sex trafficking, nonconsensual sharing of explicit media, and image-based sexual abuse. Some victims experience severe emotional distress, and in extreme cases, this can tragically lead to suicide.
Understanding Image-Based Sexual Abuse (IBSA)
What exactly is image-based sexual abuse? IBSA refers to a broad range of abusive practices where images are used for sexual purposes without meaningful consent. This can include the creation, manipulation, theft, extortion, or threatened or actual distribution of images or videos, as well as any misuse of images or videos for exploitation. IBSA may also involve sexual violence or harassment targeting digital representations, such as avatars in virtual reality or online gaming. If you wish to gain a far greater understanding of this rather disturbing subject, please allow me to recommend an article, titled “Image-Based Sexual Abuse Perpetration: A Scoping Review,” by Nicola Hendry et al.
Types of Technology-Enabled and Image Based Sexual Abuse
AI-Generated Fake Content
AI-generated content includes hyper-realistic images created using artificial intelligence, depicting individuals in explicit situations that never occurred. Deepfake technology often makes these images so convincing that detecting the forgery can be nearly impossible.
As AI continues to reshape perceptions of reality, digital literacy and critical thinking skills are becoming increasingly essential. If you fall victim to such abuse, these skills can help you demonstrate the forgery and, if appropriate, provide evidence to your family, social circle, professional network, or police. Here are some ways to identify AI-generated content:
- Visual Oddities: Look for inconsistencies in details such as lighting, facial expressions, or reflections, areas where AI still tends to struggle.
- Speech Patterns: If audio is involved, listen for unnatural rhythm, overly perfect speech, or a lack of natural emotion and pauses.
- Source Verification: Trust only reputable sources and cross-check information across reliable platforms.
- AI Detection Tools: Tools such as Deepware Scanner and Sensity specialise in identifying deepfake videos and other forgeries by analysing pixel inconsistencies, metadata, and digital fingerprints.
- Background Inconsistencies: AI often simplifies or blurs backgrounds, missing subtle contextual details.
Non-Consensual Distribution of Explicit Material
This involves sharing or posting sexually explicit images or videos without meaningful consent, representing a severe violation of privacy and bodily autonomy that often causes lasting emotional harm.
I believe it’s important to acknowledge that I fully understand the desire to exchange intimate images, particularly among younger age groups or during the early stages of a relationship. However, it’s crucial to recognise that a relationship, which might initially seem healthy and promising, can sometimes deteriorate or change dramatically. In such instances, the intimate images you once shared in trust could end up in the hands of someone who now harbours hostile intentions with a potential desire to commit acts of technology-enabled sexual abuse. For this reason, I urge everyone to be mindful and conscious of the potential risks involved.
Sexual Extortion (Sextortion)
Perpetrators often use sexual images to blackmail victims, demanding additional explicit content, money, sexual contact, or compliance to maintain a relationship. This ties directly to my earlier point. Be extremely cautious about who you grant access to any sexual images of yourself.
Recording Sexual Violence (RSV)
This refers to the recording of sexual assault or rape, often when the victim is incapacitated or drugged. The case of French rape survivor Gisèle Pelicot is a shocking example. However, it is also a greatly empowering example of a woman who bravely waved her right to anonymity so the evidence could be heard in public, and so she could repeatedly remind the world that shame must change sides, and that shame lies with their attacker, not with the victim survivor. The recordings of these acts of violence may be shared online, including on mainstream pornography sites, compounding the trauma inflicted.
Video Voyeurism (VV)
These actions involve secretly recording the private activities of individuals, such as dressing, urinating, and showering without their knowledge. It also involves taking pictures of body parts in private settings that happen to be in a public place, like “upskirting” or “down-blousing.”
Modern technology provides perpetrators with an ever-expanding arsenal of tools to control, abuse, and threaten. Preventing or stopping IBSA is exceptionally challenging, if not impossible.
Resources for Technology-Enabled Sexual Abuse
For a deeper understanding of online violence against women, I recommend the study Online Violence Against Women: A Four Nations Study. Led by Professor Olga Jurasz and funded by the Open University’s Open Societal Challenges programme in 2024, it represents the first comprehensive, large-scale study of online violence against women across the UK. The study examines the scale, impact, and societal attitudes towards such abuse.
The research found that most participants in England recognised image-based sexual abuse as a form of online violence against women and girls (OVAWG), with 91% identifying it as such. Other forms included text-based abuse (87%), cyberstalking (86%), cyberbullying (85%), upskirting (84%), and cyberflashing (83%). Key factors driving these offences included online anonymity, the ease of escaping accountability, and the widespread sexualisation of women and girls.
I have explored the subject of Technology-Enabled Abuse and many more related subjects in my book, NEVER A VICTIM – The Definitive Guide to Women’s Safety. I strongly encourage you to develop at least a basic understanding of this issue, as I believe it will play an increasingly significant role in the personal safety of women in the future.
