We have seen a huge rise in reports of Sextortion to the Revenge Porn Helpline and cases tripled in 2021. Unfortunately, due to the nature of this crime, the police can be limited in what they can do. Perpetrators are usually based overseas and they are good at covering their tracks and remaining anonymous. The crime is also becoming more malicious with accusations becoming more severe and other scam websites being created that are disguised as support services trying to profit further from the scam.
The Revenge Porn Helpline is conducting a research campaign to help us improve our understanding of this crime, create awareness and better support victims in the future. We will use feedback from people with lived experience to learn more about which platforms are targeted and the techniques used to obtain the sexual content and extort money in this way.
The purpose of this campaign is three fold, to raise awareness about this increasing crime, to develop resources to better inform potential victims and to create stronger partnerships with other organisations and online social media platforms. As a result, we aim to educate more people who may be targeted by this and highlight possible ‘red flags’ when meeting people in this way. We hope that sharing this knowledge can prevent more people from being affected by this violating crime.
All personal information will be completely confidential and used for statistical purposes only. Demographic information will be used for data monitoring purposes only. We may use anonymised comments in funding applications, research or media.