Juvenile image-based sexual abuse perpetration: Addressing complex new social issues

• In Event: Roundtable: Hot Potato - Blame and Responsibility Surrounding Delinquency and Youth Violence

Abstract

In this roundtable talk, the discussant positions online and social media platforms as key social spheres contributing to youthful transgressions. In the digital age, juveniles are not only vulnerable to image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) but also actively engage in such behaviors—ranging from nonconsensual creation of AI-generated intimate images to sharing nonconsensual intimate images, cyberflashing, and pressuring peers into unwanted sexting. The discussant will explore how these offenses are occurring among youth in online environments, offering brief illustrative examples. The talk will further examine how social media and related platforms are responding to IBSA, particularly in cases involving juveniles as victims or perpetrators, and whether these responses differ when minors are involved. Finally, the roundtable will explore how online platforms might better prevent juvenile engagement in IBSA, particularly in connection with other major social spheres such as the home, school, and the juvenile justice system.

Author

• Sohee Jung, University of South Carolina