GPSJ - SPRING 2025 - Flipbook - Page 35
EDUCATION & LEARNING
GPSJ
‘Sextortion’: How schools can help safeguard
young people from sexual extortion online
Mubina Asaria, Safeguarding Consultant at ed-tech charity LGf L - The National Grid for Learning
Sexual extortion – often
referred to in the media as
sextortion - is a rapidly
growing form of abuse where
perpetrators use intimate
images or videos of their
victims to threaten, blackmail
or manipulate them, often
demanding money, further
images, or sexualised content.
These cases are rising at an
alarming rate, and the impact
on victims — especially young
people — can be devastating.
The perpetrators can range
from a child or young person’s
peers or partners from previous
relationships, to highly organised
international crime gangs using
fake pro昀椀les on a larger scale to
昀椀nancially extort thousands of
victims worldwide. An increase
in the use of generative AI to
generate fake and deep-fake
imagery from innocent, nonexplicit images, using ‘nudifying’
apps has further exacerbated this
issue. We need to ensure that our
young people are aware of these
dangers and equipped with the
tools to protect themselves.
It can take as little as one hour
from initial contact, for victims to
be coerced into sharing images
and the 昀椀rst demands to be made.
The impact can be catastrophic
and can not only impact a
person’s wellbeing, mental and
physical health, but have in some
cases led to young victims taking
their own lives.
In 2024, the National Crime
Agency’s (NCA’s) Child Exploitation
and Online Protection Command
(CEOP) Safety Centre, received
380 reports of ‘sextortion’; and
police forces received an average
of 117 reports from under 18’s
during each of the 昀椀rst 昀椀ve
months of 2024. According to
statistics from the Internet Watch
Foundation (IWF) , the majority
(91%) of these crimes are against
boys aged 14-17. Considering
that these types of o昀昀ences are
generally underreported, the actual
昀椀gure is likely to be far higher.
Childline’s brie昀椀ng on Young
people’s experiences of online
sexual extortion or ‘sextortion’
(Sept 2024) reported that
‘counselling sessions with boys
mainly revolved around 昀椀nancial
blackmail, whereas girls typically
spoke about being pressured to
send more nude or semi-nude
images rather than money’.
What schools can do
One of the most powerful tools
against sexual extortion is raising
young people’s awareness of the
dangers. NCA-commissioned
research showed that ‘74% of
boys questioned did not fully
understand what sextortion was,
the same proportion didn’t see
requests for nude images as a
warning sign or an attempt at
‘sextortion’, 73% were not aware
of how to report incidents and only
12% admitted they may be at risk
of ‘sextortion’’.
It’s hugely important for schools
to create a positive culture of
safeguarding by talking openly and
honestly about online relationships
and the potential harms of sharing
images.
Remember, when a child or
young person has shared an
image - they have been groomed
or manipulated into doing so.
Victims often feel it’s their own
fault. O昀昀enders are well versed in
making them feel they are guilty,
in order to dissuade them from
seeking help, keep them isolated
and illicit more from them.
It’s essential that sta昀昀 address
disclosures in a sensitive and
non-judgemental way and avoid
victim-blaming narratives - as with
any other type of child abuse.
They should never be made to
feel responsible or complicit.
Reassuring them that they are not
to blame for what has happened
and that help and support is
available is also vital.
The key concern for young
people who have been sexually
extorted, is whether the images
can be taken down. Report
Remove is a free, online
con昀椀dential tool enabling them to
report an image or video shared
online, to see if it’s possible to get
it taken down.
Parents and carers can
also play a pivotal role in
protecting their children from
sexual extortion. Having regular
conversations about their child’s
online life - what apps they’re
using now, who they’re chatting
with etc, provides opportunities
for discussions about online
abuse, increasing awareness and
understanding. They can also spot
changes in their child’s behaviour
- signs of anxiety or withdrawal,
or unwillingness to interact with
friends, which may indicate that
something is wrong.
The recent campaign by the
NCA, to highlight the dangers of
sextortion, issued the following
advice to parents and carers:
• Do not pay the perpetrator there
is no guarantee that this will
stop the threats
• Stop all communication and
block them on all platforms to
prevent further manipulation or
harassment
• Avoid deleting anything that
could be used as evidence such
as messages, images,
telephone numbers, and bank
account details
• Report to the police or to
CEOP. Call 101 or 999 if there
is an immediate risk of harm
to the child. Use the CEOP
Safety Centre to report any
online blackmail attempts.
International cooperation has
resulted in the arrests of members
of organised crime gangs
involved in sexual exploitation, but
online threats continue. Raising
awareness and equipping our
young people with the knowledge,
understanding and skills to identify
potential harms online will help
keep them safe in our increasingly
digital world.
LGfL delivers free training
for schools via Online Sexual
Abuse and Harms training. For
further support and resources,
please visit LGfL https://lg昀氀.net/
Safeguarding/saferesources.
For information on generative AI
please visit https://genAI.lg昀氀.
net.
Mubina Asaria
GOVERNMENT AND PUBLIC SECTOR JOURNAL SPRING 2025
35
