Victim-survivors’ proposed solutions to addressing image-based sexual
abuse in the U.S.: Legal, corporate, educational, technological, and
cultural approaches
Abstract
Sexual violence is a world-wide health problem that has begun to
escalate in online and virtual spaces. One form of
technology-facilitated sexual violence that has escalated in recent
years is image-based sexual abuse (IBSA), or the nonconsensual creation,
distribution, and/or threat of distribution of nude or sexual images.
Using a trauma-informed and victim-centered framework, we asked
victim-survivors for structural solutions to IBSA based on their own
experiences. Using thematic analysis on 36 semi-structured interviews
with adult U.S. victim-survivors of IBSA, we found that victim-survivors
proposed structural solutions to IBSA along 5 general dimensions: legal
(creating/strengthening laws, enforcing laws, facilitating legal
navigation), corporate (corporate responsibility/activism and solutions
for employers), educational (IBSA education, outreach and advocacy, and
developing communities of support), technological (more platform
accountability, improved procedures for uploading images, better avenues
for reporting and removing images, and enhanced platform policies), and
cultural. Many solutions built on existing structures (e.g., sexual
education in schools) and frameworks (e.g., creating support groups like
those for people in recovery from alcohol abuse), enabling educational
professionals, policy makers, victim-support service providers, and
corporations to readily implement them.