Financially Motivated Sexual Extortion (Sextortion) explained
Children as young as 11 are being targeted by criminals and forced to share explicit photos that can be used to blackmail them for money. Alarmingly, not only has the target age been dropping over recent years, but numbers of reported cases are on the rise too. Here we take a closer look at what Financially Motivated Sexual Extortion is and what we can do to stop it.
Edward Herbert
What is Financially Motivated Sexual Extortion?
What is it?
Financially Motivated Sexual Extortion, often referred to as ‘Sextortion’, is a form of online blackmail where the perpetrator manipulates someone into sharing explicit photos or videos. Once they have obtained these, they threaten to share them with friends and family unless they send money.
While this form of crime has been used for many years, reports from The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) suggest that young people are being targeted more and more.
To give an example, a child might be added on a social media account by the exploiter posing as an attractive person. They get chatting to establish trust. The perpetrator might even be the first to send an explicit image to secure one in return. Once they have the incriminating images or videos, they then change their tune.
Sextortion
The exploiter can threaten to share the images with family and friends. This could be on a social media or through text services. They will likely create a sense of urgency to get the money as quickly as possible. This is to make sure the victim doesn’t have a chance to think more clearly about what to do. They might say something like "Pay me now, or I’ll send this to everyone you know!". Once they have received the money, they can move onto their next victim, or it is possible they will continue to send demands.
This ordeal can be absolutely devastating for children and adults alike. They don’t realise they are a victim of a crime and that none of it is their fault. The shame attached to it is what makes this crime so effective. It's very difficult for those experiencing it to know who to turn to, through fear of embarrassment or worse.
Preventing child sexual exploitation
Each year, thousands of young people are abused and groomed to have sex. Some are tricked into thinking they’re in a ‘normal’, even loving relationship, then they are threatened and passed around to strangers. This needs to stop. We want to end child sexual exploitation, and make sure childhood abuse doesn’t define a young person’s future.
Why are we talking about it?
Why are we talking about it?
There have been an increasing number of reports of young people being targeted online for sexually coerced extortion. The IWF have noticed a worrying trend that has seen an increase in children aged 11-13 being targeted.
Typically, teenage boys are the most likely to be affected, however that appears to be changing as the number of reports of girls being sexually extorted grows. And this isn’t the full picture. With the air of humiliation associated with this crime, it is likely that most young people don’t talk to anyone about it, meaning the number of incidents could be considerably higher.
Crimes in sexual exploitation
A lot of young people are not aware of these types of crimes and as a result don’t seek the help they need. The emotional and psychological toll it takes cannot be overstated. In some cases, children have gone on to take their own lives.
How can you report it
The good news is, there is a lot of ways to protect young people and report suspicious behaviour. Child exploitation and online protection (CEOP) have put together some great guidelines on how to report any forms of child online exploitation. Also, the Report Remove service, run by the IWF and children's charity NSPCC, lets children anonymously report intimate images or videos of themselves that have appeared or could appear online, including those sent to exploiters. Tech platforms can then remove the content or block its upload.
But before all of this, if you are worried a young person is at risk of or being sexually extorted, communication is key. Talk to children about the dangers and let them know that if something like this happens, they can come to you. The worst thing that can happen is a young person tries to deal with this alone. They need to know that they have a safe space to talk about it, free of shame and embarrassment.
We also have information and resources on how you can keep children safe online.
Author: Edward Herbert
