ABSTRACT

Image-based sexual abuse (IBSA) refers to the nonconsensual production, dissemination or threat of disseminating private sexual images with the use of digital technologies. This study explores adolescent girls’ experiences of IBSA victimization based on a thematic analysis of 157 posts collected from an anonymous online counselling hotline in Denmark. The analysis shows that 104 of the 157 posts describe experiences of IBSA and that the psychological consequences of IBSA are characterized by negative emotions such as fear, worry, sadness, self-harm and suicidal thoughts. Furthermore, the analysis shows how the technological affordances of social media applications, such as the taking of screenshots on Snapchat, play an important role in facilitating the IBSA. Lastly, the study shows that 52 of the 104 adolescent girls, who had experienced IBSA, blamed themselves for their victimization, explaining this as a result of their own stupidity, naïveté and poor judgement. These findings are discussed in relation to the gendered victim blaming discourses on youth sexting, which have represented sexting teen girls as naïve and foolish and responsibilized them for the misuse of their images. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed, and suggestions for future research are presented.

摘要

基于图像的性虐待 (IBSA) 是指使用数字技术未经同意制作、传播或威胁传播私人性图像。本研究基于对从丹麦匿名在线咨询热线收集的 157 个帖子进行的主题分析，探讨了少女遭受 IBSA 受害的经历。分析表明，157 篇帖子中有 104 篇描述了 IBSA 的经历，IBSA 的心理后果的特点是负面情绪，如恐惧、担心、悲伤、自残和自杀念头。此外，分析显示社交媒体应用程序的技术可供性（例如在 Snapchat 上截取屏幕截图）如何在促进 IBSA 方面发挥重要作用。最后，该研究表明，在经历过 IBSA 的 104 名少女中，有 52 名，他们将自己的受害归咎于自己，将其解释为自己的愚蠢、天真和判断力差的结果。这些发现与性别受害者指责青少年色情短信的话语有关，这些话语将色情短信的少女描述为天真和愚蠢，并为滥用自己的形象负责。讨论了理论和实践意义，并提出了对未来研究的建议。