In entrance of screens throughout America, a quiet disaster is unfolding. Sexual extortion has change into a really actual risk that’s casting a darkish shadow over younger lives.
Thorn’s newest analysis, titled Sexual Extortion & Younger Folks: Navigating Threats in Digital Environments, locations the highlight on this manipulative, isolating abuse. We surveyed 1,200 younger folks, ages 13 to twenty, as they shared their experiences with sextortion.
From that analysis, we realized that 1 in 7 victims have been pushed to hurt themselves on account of their expertise. For LGBTQ+ youth, who’re much less more likely to have an offline assist system which might improve their isolation, that quantity practically triples to twenty-eight% in comparison with their non-LGBTQ+ friends. Behind every of those numbers is an adolescent feeling trapped, afraid, and presumably hopeless.
This analysis is a name to motion. By sharing the state of sextortion in 2025, we hope to shine a light-weight on the way it occurs, who’s in danger, and what we are able to all do to battle again. Our kids need to develop up exploring the digital world with out concern. This analysis offers us an understanding of the digital security nets we should implement to make that occur.
The present panorama of sextortion
Sextortion is a type of abuse the place somebody threatens to share non-public sexual pictures or movies until their calls for are met. It’s not nearly cash—it’s about energy, management, and inflicting concern. For the sufferer, it may really feel like being trapped with no means out.
“Sextortion is evolving—calls for now span past baby sexual abuse to incorporate cash, management, and bodily violence in opposition to victims and people round them. Its scale is rising, with perpetrators leveraging the round the clock availability of platforms designed to assist folks join and construct relationships, turning these very instruments into devices of isolation and exploitation.”
Melissa Stroebel, Vice President of Analysis & Strategic Impression, Thorn
This abuse takes many kinds, at occasions overlapping, and understanding them helps us higher shield younger folks:Relational sextortion: When somebody the sufferer feels they know—usually a romantic companion, buddy, and even member of the family—makes use of intimate pictures to manage or manipulate them. The calls for normally require the sufferer to stay in or return to a relationship with the perpetrator.
Exploitative content material sextortion: Calls for the sufferer share extra intimate photographs, movies, or different materials.
Monetary sextortion: The extortionist calls for cash to forestall pictures from being shared, usually perpetrated by organized felony networks that regularly goal younger males.
Sadistic sextortion: Lately on the rise, these calls for embody struggling or submission via violence, self-harm, or destruction. Usually coordinated via organized, on-line teams.
Whereas the specifics of every abusive interplay differ, they share a typical thread: know-how is sort of at all times concerned. Our analysis discovered that 81% of sextortion threats occurred completely on-line, with solely 6% occurring totally in particular person. Social media platforms, gaming websites, and messaging apps have change into the first areas the place perpetrators discover, goal, and/or threaten younger folks.
The size of this downside is alarming. One in 5 teenagers in our survey reported experiencing sextortion. That’s not only a statistic—it represents tens of millions of younger folks going through threats which have actual penalties on their psychological well being and put them in danger for additional hurt.
Age is one other essential issue. Our analysis discovered that 1 in 6 victims have been age 12 or youthful after they first skilled sextortion. These youthful kids are notably weak, as they usually lack the emotional instruments to acknowledge manipulation and should not know how one can search assist when focused
How sextortion occurs at present
Understanding how sextortion unfolds may also help caregivers, educators, and know-how platforms higher shield younger folks from this hurt. Whereas every state of affairs is exclusive, our analysis reveals frequent patterns in how this abuse occurs.
Even when the perpetrator is aware of the sufferer offline, sextortion threats usually start with on-line contact, both via social media, gaming platforms, or messaging apps. Perpetrators could use pretend profiles, pose as friends, or leverage current in-person relationships to construct belief with potential victims. In some circumstances, the abuser spends time attending to know the younger particular person earlier than making any calls for. In others, particularly monetary sextortion schemes, they transfer rapidly to manipulation.
One alarming discovering is how quickly these conditions can escalate. Practically one-third (30%) of victims skilled calls for inside simply 24 hours of preliminary contact. This quick timeline offers younger folks little time to acknowledge warning indicators or search assist earlier than going through threats.
Know-how performs a central function in just about all sextortion circumstances, with 94% of threats made via digital platforms. Nonetheless, how know-how is used varies:
In monetary sextortion, perpetrators usually goal victims they don’t know personally, utilizing social media or gaming platforms to make preliminary contact earlier than rapidly shifting to calls for for cash.In relationship-based sextortion, current offline relationships leverage fashionable apps and textual content messaging companies to remain linked even after they aren’t collectively. In sextortion, that entry creates alternative for threats and intimidation.
The calls for made by perpetrators additionally range:
39% demanded extra sexual pictures31% demanded in-person conferences25% made relationship calls for (like staying in a relationship)22% demanded cash
In practically three-fourths of circumstances, the perpetrator used the specter of sharing sexual pictures or private info with others to strain the sufferer into complying with calls for. Perpetrators usually threaten to ship pictures to relations, associates, or classmates—folks whose opinions matter deeply to the younger sufferer. This focused strategy makes sextortion notably efficient at controlling victims via concern and disgrace, protecting them trapped and remoted whereas the abuse continues.
Including to this complexity, many victims by no means voluntarily shared pictures within the first place. Our analysis discovered that 44% of victims reported that their pictures have been recorded or screenshotted with out consent and 13% reported that they have been extorted by somebody utilizing an AI-generated deepfake nude. This creates a further layer of violation for victims.
Making a safer future
Regardless of the severity of sextortion, many younger victims endure in silence. Our analysis discovered that 16% of victims by no means advised anybody about their expertise. This silence prevents them from getting the assistance they want and the abuse to proceed.
A number of elements create obstacles that preserve younger folks from looking for assist in circumstances of sextortion:
Disgrace and embarrassment usually forestall victims from coming ahead. Many really feel they are going to be judged, blamed, or punished for having shared pictures within the first place. This stigma and victim-blaming are important components that abusers usually depend on to take care of management.Concern of escalation retains victims quiet. They fear that telling somebody may result in the perpetrator finishing up their threats or making the state of affairs worse.Lack of expertise about obtainable sources leaves many younger folks feeling like they’ve nowhere to show.Concern about dropping entry to gadgets or platforms if mother and father or guardians react by proscribing on-line actions.
Whereas looking for assist feels unattainable for a lot of victims, breaking the silence is commonly step one towards ending the abuse and starting restoration.
“Simply please don’t preserve this a secret. Inform somebody, anybody, everybody immediately. Don’t wait, somebody will consider you and can show you how to.” – Male, 15 years previous, United States
The function of fogeys and caregivers
Open, judgment-free conversations about on-line security are important. Younger folks should know they’ll come to trusted adults if one thing goes unsuitable on-line, with out concern of punishment or dropping entry to their gadgets. These conversations ought to:
Begin early, earlier than kids are actively impartial on-lineEmbody clear discussions about sextortion and the way it occursDeal with constructing belief quite than instilling concernEmphasize that victims are by no means accountable for his or her exploitation
Platform duty
Know-how platforms have an important function to play in stopping and addressing sextortion. Our analysis discovered that 70% of victims used on-line security options like blocking and reporting, demonstrating that these instruments are important lifelines for younger folks in disaster. Nonetheless, extra have to be completed:
Platforms want higher detection programs to determine sextortion makes an attempt earlier than hurt happensReporting processes have to be streamlined and accessible to younger customers in miserySecurity options must be prominently displayed and simple to make use ofCross-platform collaboration is required to trace and reply to perpetrators who transfer between companies and elevate quickly rising threats
Rising tendencies and ongoing analysis
The panorama of sextortion continues to evolve. Latest headlines about networks like 764—which the FBI now considers a “tier one” terrorism risk—spotlight how these crimes have gotten extra organized and excessive, with some perpetrators particularly looking for to drive victims to self-harm. Early ecosystem intervention of this troubling type of sextortion can restrict its scale, stopping the same fast development in prevalence that we noticed with monetary sextortion over the previous few years. And, as quickly as these threats evolve, the common significance of assist programs can’t be overstated. Analysis to know the perfect practices to ship accessible and efficient assist to children in peril is important.
The trail ahead
Regardless of the sobering findings of this analysis, there may be hope. Early intervention could make a major distinction in outcomes for younger victims. When younger folks obtain immediate assist from trusted adults and have entry to applicable sources, the cycle of abuse may be damaged.
By working collectively—throughout households, communities, know-how corporations, and policymakers—we are able to create a digital world the place younger folks can discover, join, and specific themselves with out concern of exploitation. Our kids deserve nothing much less.
