New study shows 1 in 7 people have been victims of sextortion – and AI is making it worse

The Australian eSafety Commissioner recently launched a new campaign to raise awareness of sexual extortion, or “sextortion”. Targeted primarily at men, the campaign features AI-generated videos of attractive women attempting to lure men into financial scams.

It’s responding to a growing problem – this form of image-based abuse is being reported more and more all over the world.

We recently surveyed more than 16,000 respondents across ten countries. We found one in seven (14.5%) adults have experienced sextortion, while 4.8% admitted to being a perpetrator.

What is sextortion?

Sextortion is a form of image-based abuse. It involves making threats to share nude or sexual images to coerce the victim into complying with certain behavioural or financial demands. These can include paying a ransom, sharing intimate images or engaging in unwanted acts.