Image-based sexual abuse: victimization, perpetration, prevention, and policing.

Session Submission Type: Pre-arranged Panel

Abstract

Image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) and other manifestations of digital sexual abuse are increasingly prevalent. Simultaneously, there is a rise in research, as well as normative and preventive actions being implemented at both national and international levels. While most research focuses on the non-consensual sending of intimate images (NCII), new trends are emerging made possible through developments of artificial intelligence. This panel will focus on current research related to NCII and new forms of abuse such as deepnudes: AI-generated realistic-looking but fake sexual images of a victim. Increasingly, the easy access and use of apps to generate deepnudes lower the threshold to generate these images. Therefore, research on deepnude app use and the apps’ terms of service, will be presented. Additionally, new research focuses on the motivations and characteristics of app users. The tools used, the targeted individuals, and the motivations of perpetrators will be discussed. Next, research on the mental, emotional, and social impact of NCII on victims will be shared, along with factors that influence victims to report or not to the police. Further, the policing of IBSA will be presented. This includes also the benefits and risks associated with diverse policing responses involving actors from the profit, social-profit, and governmental sectors. Next to prevalence, consequences, and policing, how prevention through education could be shaped, will be shared. Focusing on practitioners’ and researchers’ experiences, recommendations for education on sexting and image-based sexual abuse will be presented.

Subtopic

• Topic 2: Types of Offending / Cybercrime (Cybercrime WG)

Chair

• Michel Walrave, University of Antwerp

Individual Presentations

• Deepnudes among Belgian youth: how AI-apps do have it all. - Aurelie Gilen, University of Antwerp; Catherine Van de Heyning, University of Antwerp; Michel Walrave, University of Antwerp; Mona Giacometti, University of Antwerp; Nina Dakota Szyf, University of Antwerp

• Engaging in Sexualised Deepfake Abuse: Findings from an International Qualitative Study of Perpetrators in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. - Asher Flynn, Monash University; Anastasia Powell, RMIT University; Asia Eaton, Florida International University; Adrian J. Scott, University of Goldsmiths

• Non-consensual dissemination of intimate images: Impact on victims and their willingness to report. - Silke Van den Eynde, LINC, KU Leuven

• Who’s policing? A nodal governance perspective on the policing of image-based sexual abuse in Japan. - Charlotte Bekkers, KU Leuven; Jeroen Maesschalck, Leuven Institute of Criminology, KU Leuven; Dimitri Vanoverbeke, University of Tokyo

• Sexting education and prevention of image-based sexual abuse: A qualitative study of expert opinions. - Joris Van Ouytsel, Arizona State University