Understanding the link between Sextortion and Suicide
Open accessAbstract
Sextortion is an emerging threat, facilitated by the use of online environments where perpetrators gain the trust of vulnerable individuals in order to obtain sexually explicit material and then use it to coerce victims for the purposes of sexual, personal or financial gain. There is presently no research exploring what may lead a victim of sextortion to choose suicide. The present study examined three cases of sextortion and suicide. A thematic analysis of publicly available online material identified common themes in these cases: fear, helplessness, hopelessness, shame, humiliation, self-blame, general distress, typical antecedents of suicidal behaviour. The implications are discussed.
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There is no standardized definition of sextortion which hinders comparability.
“There is no standardized definition of sextortion which hinders comparability.”
From Sextortion: A Scoping Review (2025) · cites this paper as Nilsson et al., 2019
Image-based sexual abuse may have a significant impact on psychological adjustment.
“The results indicate that image -based sexual abuse may have a signi fi cant impact on psychological adjustment, in line with previous studies ' fi ndings (Nilsson et al., 2019).”
From Assessing image-based sexual abuse: Measurement, prevalence, and temporal stability of sextortion and nonconsensual sexting (“revenge porn”) among adolescents (2022) · cites this paper as Nilsson et al., 2019
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Using thematic analysis in psychology
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006) · Qualitative Research in Psychology · doi:10.1191/1478088706qp063oa · Cited by 194,414 · see citing works
MOKROS, H. B. (1995) · American Behavioral Scientist · doi:10.1177/0002764295038008005 · Cited by 68 · see citing works
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Gámez‐Guadix, M., Mateos‐Pérez, E., Wachs, S., Wright, M., Martínez, J., & Íncera, D. (2022) · Journal of Adolescence · doi:10.1002/jad.12064 · Cited by 96 · see citing works
Ray, A., & Henry, N. (2025) · Trauma, Violence, & Abuse · doi:10.1177/15248380241277271 · Cited by 76 · see citing works
Sextortion: Prevalence and correlates in 10 countries
Henry, N., & Umbach, R. (2024) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2024.108298 · Cited by 32 · see citing works
The Language of Romance Crimes
Carter, E. (2024) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781009273008 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
The Dark Tetrad and online sexual victimization: Enjoying in the distance
Pineda, D., Martínez-Martínez, A., Galán, M., Rico-Bordera, P., & Piqueras, J. A. (2023) · Computers in Human Behavior · doi:10.1016/j.chb.2023.107659 · Cited by 30 · see citing works
Online sextortion: Characteristics of offences from a decade of community reporting
Edwards, M., & Hollely, N. M. (2023) · Journal of Economic Criminology · doi:10.1016/j.jeconc.2023.100038 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Dating Applications: A Honeypot for Sextortion Victims
Tavakoli, H., Tzani, C., Ioannou, M., Williams, T. J. V., Drouin, M., & Fletcher, R. (2024) · Deviant Behavior · doi:10.1080/01639625.2024.2317904 · Cited by 7 · see citing works
Self-citation
- Authors
- Nilsson, M. G., Calli.Tzani-Pepelasis, Ioannou, M., & Lester, D.
- Affiliations
- University of Edinburgh (GB)
- University of Huddersfield, United Kingdom
- Stockton University (US)
- ORCID
- Lester, David
- Venue
- Zenodo
- Publisher
- Zenodo
- Published
- 2019-09-08
- Volume
- 13
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 55-69
- OpenAlex
- W2941399506
- Cited by
- 34
- References
- 2
- Citations by year
- 2025: 3 · 2024: 13 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 4
- FWCI
- 2.63
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- pure.hud.ac.uk
- Licence
- Locations
- Huddersfield Research Portal (University of Huddersfield) (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-sa)
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (cc-by)
- International journal of cyber criminology
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Suicide and Self-Harm Studies
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Stalking, Cyberstalking, and Harassment
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Information Systems › Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies
- Keywords
- sextortion, suicide, suicidal behavior, online sexual exploitation, sexual coercion, fear, helplessness, hopelessness, shame, humiliation, self-blame, distress
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